Provenance
The artist, Saint Martin d’Ardèche, France, 1940 [London 1961] and later New York [New York 1942]; sold through Peggy Guggenheim and Howard Putzel, New York, between 1942 and 1946 [Guggenheim 1946]. With Julien Levy Gallery, New York, by 1946 [handwritten checklist for Washington, D.C. 1946, no. 7, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Library and Archives, Julien Levy Gallery Records; copy in curatorial object file ]. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Randall Shapiro, Oak Park, IL, by 1958 [lender information sheet, Newberry Library, Arts Club Papers, Series I: Exhibitions, Box 55, Folder 716; copy in curatorial object file]; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1996.
Accession Number
145243
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
37.5 × 54 cm (14 3/4 × 21 1/4 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Shapiro
Background & Context
Background Story
Max Ernst's Spanish Physician (1940) is an oil on canvas by the German-born Surrealist painter. Ernst (1891-1976) was a pioneer of both Dada and Surrealism, known for his innovative techniques and his dreamlike, often unsettling imagery. This painting from 1940, the year of the fall of France, shows a Spanish physician in a scene that combines elements of collage-like composition with Ernst's characteristic fantastical imagery.
Cultural Impact
Ernst was a pioneering figure in Dada and Surrealism, one of the most innovative artists of the 20th century.
Why It Matters
This painting of a Spanish physician shows Ernst's characteristic blend of collage-like composition and surreal fantasy.
