Week 18: May 5, 2024

Capricorn, Max Ernst, German, 1948, Bronze

A minotaur and a mermaid walk into a bar…

The best thing about this unusual, surrealist sculpture is that, in the printed description, it starts by saying, “Capricorn is an inventive portrait of Max Ernst and his wife, fellow Surrealist artist Dorothea Tanning.” It cracks me up every time. I expect it to have such symbolism and depth - and there is some further down in the explanation. But on the surface, this artist said, “Hey honey, look at the portrait I sculpted of us!” and showed her this.