Who made art history? Not the most reasonable people. The mad men did. If painting is the mirror of a time, it must be mad to have a true image of what that time is. To one madness we oppose another madness.
Max ErnstRead
Every normal human being (and not merely the 'artist') has an inexhaustible store of buried images in his subconscious, it is merely a matter of courage or liberating procedures ... of voyages into the unconscious, to bring pure and unadulterated found objects to light.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The subconscious mind holds a wealth of creativity and ideas waiting to be discovered and expressed.
Max Ernst emphasizes that every person, not just artists, possesses a rich reservoir of images and thoughts within their subconscious. However, accessing these deep-seated ideas requires courage and methods to explore the unconscious mind, allowing individuals to express their true selves through art and creativity.
Themes
SubconsciousCreativityArtCourageExploration
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational talk about discovering inner creativity, one might say, 'As Max Ernst highlights, we all have hidden treasures in our subconscious waiting to be explored.'
More from Max Ernst
All quotes →Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.
Max ErnstRead
Painting is neither decorative amusement, nor the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.
Max ErnstRead
When the artist finds himself he is lost. The fact that he has succeeded in never finding himself is regarded by Max Ernst as his only lasting achievement.
Max ErnstRead
Collage is the noble conquest of the irrational, the coupling of two realities, irreconcilable in appearance, upon a plane which apparently does not suit them.
Max ErnstRead
Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.
Max ErnstRead
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