Gala Eluard Surrealism

Gala Éluard was the inspiration and lover of three Surrealist artists. Max Ernst painted this picture of her forehead unfolding as people of the Surrealist movement would go and explore the unconscious mind. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) In this painting Max Ernst really took into consideration Sigmund Freud’s dream theories to investigate his deep soul in order to discover the groundwork of his own creativity (Max Ernst Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works). Max Ernst was a soldier during WWI which traumatized him and made him critical of the western world. This directly fed into his vision of the modern world as unreasonable, an idea that became the base of his artwork. Ernst's artistic vision, along with his humor and energy come through
Above the face are circular items floating around and above that are what seems to be clouds. The main focus of the painting are the piercing eyes of the woman which are at the center. He painted her face a dark brown color and he folding of her forehead is a yellow gold color. The top of the painting, which seems to be her mind, is painted a yellow color and there are circular objects in a dark grey color floating around in the top. Ernst used dark colors to show the darkness and sorrow that the woman was facing. The painting shows the Surrealist’s movement view on dreams. Max Ernst like many artist in this time period wanted to explore the unconscious mind and show people’s dreams just like Sigmund Freud had done as a neurologist. An interpretation of the Max Ernst’s Gala Éluard could be that since Gala could not be satisfied with one man, she was not happy inside. Since she was unsatisfied with just one man, she seems to have a hard time finding herself. Her forehead unfolding could be her life deteriorating as she searches for the happiness in her life. She has a blank stare because you can see right through her into her soul as she attracts new men. The objects floating above her head are the men she has had affairs