Composition, painted in 1928, reflects Max Ernst’s most innovative period, when his fascination with chance and the unconscious shaped a groundbreaking visual language. Drawing on techniques like frottage and grattage, Ernst allowed textures and accidental marks to guide the emergence of forms. In this work, he overlays scraped patterns on a stark composition divided between a luminous blue upper zone and a dark, dominant lower field, evoking both sky and a mysterious ground. From this darkness rise two tilted rectangles filled with undulating lines, and above them, a crisp orange circle hovers at the horizon, like a sun or celestial body.

The interplay of control and spontaneity is central to Composition. The scraped forms reveal rhythmic, organic striations, while the bold geometry of the circle anchors the image with precision. A thin white line winds delicately near the bottom of the canvas, lending a lyrical sense of movement. These elements together form a restrained yet evocative landscape, one that seems to oscillate between the natural and the cosmic, solidity and illusion. The horizon line recalls a wave’s crest, suggesting latent motion or unfolding transformation.

Ernst described his frottage-inspired visions as revealing everything from animals and battles to frost flowers and ancient myths. In Composition, these imaginative associations take shape through a careful balance of texture, form, and color. The painting’s simplicity invites prolonged contemplation, offering a quiet yet powerful encounter with a world shaped by dream, memory, and material experimentation.