«Истерические» механизмы и тела в серии коллажей Макса Эрнста 1920–1930-х годов

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the influence of the hysterical discourse on Max Ernst’s artworks of the 1920s and 1930s. The main source material for his collages was medical illustrations, which he analyzed and subsequently “appropriated” for his own artworks. Given this, various aberrations occur: borrowed sources and their meanings are not always clear, which poses a problem in the study of the presented corpus of artworks. The relevance and scientific novelty of the study are as follows: the description and introduction of the collages of the 1920s and 1930s into scientific discourse would help to clarify the semantics of not only Ernst’s early, but also his later artworks. Analyzing the collages of the 1920s and 1930s, we can conclude that Ernst’s fascination with the visual component of the hysterical discourse allowed him to engage in psychotherapy and rejecting various dogmas. As a result, the hysterical discourse is the thread that runs through all of his creative works. It can be assumed that the “hysterical” mechanism developed by Ernst also influenced one of the “performances” of the 1938 International Surrealist Exhibition: the appearance of the Enigmarelle automaton, a descendant of Frankenstein, powered by electricity. The artistic study of hysteria was continued by Ernst’s companion Dorothea Tanning, who created a series of works featuring “women in wallpaper”, inspired by the Victorian novel about a hysteria patient The Yellow Wallpaper authored by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.