In the Stable of the Sphinx (Dans l'écurie du sphinx) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle)

In the Stable of the Sphinx (Dans l'écurie du sphinx) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle) by Max Ernst is a definitive example of the artist's pioneering techniques within the Surrealist movement. Created around 1925 and published the following year, this influential print is one from a significant portfolio of 34 collotypes taken after the original frottages. The series, which fundamentally explores the subconscious and the role of chance operations in art, marked a crucial turning point in Ernst’s career. The use of the collotype process ensured that the delicate, granular texture and tonal variations inherent in the frottage originals were faithfully reproduced for wide dissemination.

Ernst developed frottage (French for “rubbing”) in 1925, drawing inspiration from the random textures found in wood grain, leaves, and various rough surfaces. This automatist technique involved placing thin paper over these materials and rubbing with a soft pencil or crayon, allowing forms to emerge dictated by accident and material properties rather than conscious design. The resulting imagery, seen clearly in In the Stable of the Sphinx, often evokes unsettling biological, geological, or mechanical forms, blurring the lines between pure representation and abstraction. This unique method placed Ernst firmly at the forefront of French Surrealist artists in the mid-1920s, providing a powerful mechanism to circumvent conscious control and tap directly into dream logic and the occult.

The portfolio Histoire naturelle is crucial for understanding the widespread influence of automatism on graphic prints during the interwar period. The published edition, dated 1926, allowed these experimental works to be broadly studied and collected. Ernst employed simple textural elements to construct complex, fantastic worlds, often playing with evocative titles that anthropomorphize the abstract shapes. This important print resides today in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where it serves as a central reference point for the study of Surrealism’s radical exploration of the irrational.