Ernst - "Untitled Serigraph" Silkscreen of blue and red geometric shape.

Jimmy Ernst • American (1920-1984)

Untitled Serigraph • Silkscreen 37" x 28"

Everybody’s nerve-endings were shot in 1941. Jimmy Ernst, perhaps, had more reason to be on edge than most. In the space of three short years he fled his German homeland; was chased from his new home in France, leaving his mother behind; resettled in America, barely surviving on menial jobs; learned his mother had died in the Auschwitz ovens. Shortly after, he became stepson to one of the wealthiest women in the world. Stop the world, I want to get off.

Let’s begin our story in New York, 1941. Jimmy Ernst was working as a $60 a week clerk at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). His father, the famed Surrealist and DaDa artist, Max Ernst, was still in Europe, nimbly staying one step ahead of the Nazis who despised modern art. Finally, Europe had run out of places to hide and Max boarded a ship for New York, gaining legal entry only when son, Jimmy, pledged his own meager salary to the court. It must have been an enormous surprise to see his father walking down the gangplank in the company of Peggy Guggenheim, one of the world’s richest women. Jimmy’s circumstances were about to change.

In short order, Max married Peggy, Jimmy became a director of the Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art. Jimmy’s real mother, Louise (Max’s first wife,) died at Auschwitz. Max divorced Peggy. Jimmy married Dallas. Jimmy became a leading light among the Abstract Expressionists dominating art at the time.

Is it any wonder Jimmy Ernst’s autobiography was titled: A Not So Still-Life?

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But, while father Max married and divorced five times, Jimmy remained with Dallas for almost 40 years ‘til death did them part. Where Max was a dashing pirate of the art world with a white mane and athletic figure, Jimmy was a balding man with a round, earnest face.

Where the two Ernst’s most resembled each other was in their devotion to pushing the boundaries of modern art. Jimmy became one of the “The Irascible Eighteen”, a group of artists prodding the Metropolitan Museum of Art to embrace abstraction. The group posed for a famous picture published in Life magazine in 1950.

By the following year, Jimmy was named an instructor in the Department of Design at Brooklyn College. As he approached his 40s, life began to slow into the rhythms of fatherhood and established artist. Leaving New York City behind, Jimmy and Dallas summered in the Hamptons and wintered in NoKomis, Florida. At long last, a still life.

At the age of 69 he published his autobiography and promptly dropped dead of a heart attack while waiting for a radio show interview to promote his book. In memory of her husband, Dallas Ernst established an annual award to an artist whose lifelong vision was judged to be “consistent and dedicated.” She knew her husband well.

Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Gift of Jack and Ethel Zaratzian, 82.21.4

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
““In 1941 he was a $60 a week clerk at the Museum of Modern Art. A year later he was Director at the Guggenheim. Having an oft-married father has its’ advantages.”

2.
“His father was famed Surrealist, Max Ernst, one of the most flamboyant figures in modern art. His mother, Louise Amalia Straus was a Jewish art critic and journalist who died in the Holocaust.”

3.
“IAs a member of ‘The Irascible 18,” Jimmy was instrumental in gaining acceptance for Abstract Expressionism.”

4.
“He titled his autobiography, ‘A Not So Still-Life.’ Because it certainly wasn’t.”

Ernst Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1920

Born Hans-Ulrich Ernst in Cologne Germany. His father, Max Ernst, was just out of the German army after fighting in WWI. He became a leading Surrealist painter. His mother was Louise Straus, a well-known art historian and journalist.

1922

His parents divorced. Father, Max, traveled to Paris and began a long-term ménage a trois with his best friend, poet Paul Eluard, and his Russian wife Gala. The trio traveled together as far as Saigon before breaking up in 1925.

1930

Jimmy, who had stayed in Cologne with his mother, traveled to Paris during a school holiday and spent time with Max, who was remarried to Marie-Berthe Aurenche. Jimmy met many of the avant garde artists leading the Surrealist movement of the day.

1933

With Hitler installed as Chancellor of Germany, the SS searched the Cologne apartment where Jimmy and Louise lived. Louise was suspect because she was a leading Jewish intellectual. Jimmy went to live with his grandfather while his mother traveled to Paris to find work.

1938

After a short time in Paris with his mother, Jimmy sailed for America on the S.S. Manhattan. He settled in New York doing menial jobs to get by. His mother stayed in Paris and he never saw her again.

1940

By this time Jimmy was working as a clerk at the Museum of Modern Art. His mother and father were both in France, captured by the Nazis. Jimmy petitioned the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) to help Max and Louise escape from France.

1941

The ERC was only able to free Max. Louise ultimately perished in the Auschwitz ovens. Max sailed for New York in the company of Peggy Guggenheim, one of the world’s richest women and leader of the Guggenheim Art of This Century Gallery. Max and Peggy married shortly after arriving in America.

1942

Jimmy, the former MoMA clerk, was made Director of the Guggenheim Art of This Century Gallery. Father, Max, interviewed Surrealist artist, Dorothea Tanning, for an exhibition at the Guggenheim, played a game of chess with her and fell in love. She became his 5th wife (including Gala Eluard).

1943

His first solo exhibition was staged at the Norlyst Gallery in New York City.

1945

After the war ended, Jimmy spent time in Amagansett, Long Island with father, Max, and other leading European Surrealists who had fled to America.

1947

Married Edith Dallas Bauman Brody. The match proved lasting and the family grew to include two children, Amy Louise and Eric Max.

1950

He joined the “Irascible 18” a group of modern artists who came together to promote abstract art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The group was the subject of a famous photograph published in Life magazine.

1951

Named an Instructor in the Department of Design at Brooklyn College.

1952

Became a United States citizen.

1961

Awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship.

1969

His “Not So Still-Life” began to slow down as he moved to East Hampton on Long Island.

1980

With their children grown, he and Dallas built a winter home and studio in NoKomis, Florida. There he painted his Sea of Grass series based on local marshscapes.

1982

Awarded an honorary Doctorate by Southampton College of Long Island University. This was his only academic degree.

1983

Elected to membership of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, in New York City.

1984

Published a memoir of his youth and early years in America, titled: “A Not-So-Still-Life.” While waiting to go on a radio show to promote the book, he had a heart attack and died.