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Murdering Airplane

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Murdering Airplane
ArtistMax Ernst
Year1920
TypePhoto-collage
Dimensions5.8 cm × 14.3 cm (2.3 in × 5.6 in)
LocationThe Menil Collection, Houston, Texas, USA

Murdering Airplane (1920) is a collage by the German dadaist Max Ernst. Early publications identify this piece as simply Untitled collage.[1]: 33 & 145 p. [2]: 40–41 & 208 pp.  One book, in which Max Ernst made some contributions, identifies the piece as "Untitled or The Deadly Female Aeroplane (L'avionne meurtrière)".[3]: 76 p. 

It depicts a monstrous aircraft with human arms flying over an open field. In the lower right-hand corner two soldiers are carrying a third wounded soldier. The Dada movement was created partly as a critical response to World War I. This had a special significance to Ernst who served in the war. This work was a statement on the advent of aerial warfare that occurred in that war.

References

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  1. ^ Hofmann, Werner, Wieland Schmied, and Werner Spies (1973) Max Ernst, Inside the Sight. Institute for the Arts, Rice University. Houston, Texas. 159 pp.
  2. ^ Picon, Gaëtan (1977) Surrealist and Surrealism 1919- 1939. Skira/Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. New York. 231 pp.ISBN 0-8478-0041-5
  3. ^ Quinn, Edward, with contribution from Max Ernst, Uwe M. Schneede, Patrick Waldberg, and Diane Waldman. (1977) Max Ernst. New York Graphic Society (Little, Brown, and Company), Boston. 444 pp. ISBN 0-8212-0711-3