Modern and Contemporary Art The Bewildered Planet The Bewildered
Planet is one of the first paintings that Max Ernst created in
the United States after arriving there in 1941. Its structure is
reminiscent of conventional landscape paintings. Nevertheless,
the desolate place, the totem poles, and the planetary orbits
lend it a characteristically Surrealist appearance. The
landscape appears to be primordial and untouched, or, on the
other hand, damaged by a catastrophe. The totem poles relate to
Ernst’s interest in the secrets of the universe, in myths, and
in magical powers. Ernst employed painting techniques based on
the principle of automatism. The landscape is rendered by means
of a technique known as “decalcomania”: Ernst first applied
paint to the canvas, and then placed another canvas on top of
it, pressing and rubbing the two canvases together. When he
removed the top canvas, he obtained accidental forms with a
flattened surface, which he then further refined. The planet’s
orbit is painted by means of t