Cover from Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art (Fiat modes pereat ars)

The influential work Cover from Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art (Fiat modes pereat ars) by Max Ernst, executed in 1920, utilizes a complex blend of letterpress and line block, enhanced by hand-applied collage additions. Classified as a print, this piece is characteristic of the Dada movement, which flourished in the immediate post-World War I era and utilized satire and irrationality to critique both bourgeois culture and artistic tradition. The radical tone of the title, which translates to "Let there be fashion, though art perish," establishes the confrontational spirit of the piece, deliberately prioritizing fleeting popular culture over permanent, institutionalized art.

Ernst developed his groundbreaking technique of combining found illustrative material with printed text during the Cologne Dada period. As a reproducible work, this piece relies on the mechanical reproduction processes of letterpress printing, but these blocks are deliberately subverted by the collage elements. Ernst repurposed mundane commercial graphics or scientific illustrations, cutting and tearing them before integrating them into a new composition that challenges visual coherence. The addition of these unique collage details ensures that each iteration of the work, while based on a standardized print block, retains a handmade, customized quality. This aggressive embrace of graphic arts was essential to the spread of Dadaism across Europe, heavily influencing the developing Surrealist interests in the French art world.

Produced at the height of Dada activity in 1920, this work encapsulates Ernst’s early commitment to collage, a technique that would remain foundational throughout his subsequent career. As a pivotal example of Dada graphic design, it offers critical insight into the revolutionary approach to publication and visual messaging that defined the period. This important piece currently resides in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. Its design principles have made similar prints highly influential in art historical studies and are often referenced when discussing the appropriation of material for public domain graphic arts history.