Plate I from Let There Be Fashion, Down With Art (Fiat modes pereat ars)

Plate I from Let There Be Fashion, Down With Art (Fiat modes pereat ars) is a significant lithograph by the influential Dada and Surrealist artist Max Ernst, created in the year 1920. This work is one of eight prints that constitute the complete portfolio, which satirized the conventional art world and the perceived triviality of bourgeois fashion culture. As a key example of the French Dada movement’s output in the immediate postwar period, this print utilizes the methods of mechanical reproduction and mass media aesthetics that were central to Ernst’s methodology at the time.

The production of prints, specifically lithographs, allowed Ernst to rapidly disseminate his anti-aesthetic statements and critique of establishment art. Like many of his graphic works from this era, the imagery within Plate I from Let There Be Fashion suggests the use of collage and appropriated visual elements, often derived from scientific diagrams, commercial catalogs, and other ephemeral publications. This combination of fragmented forms and disjointed figures challenges the viewer's interpretation, reflecting the deliberate chaos and irrationality that Dada artists sought to expose in modern society.

Ernst was instrumental in establishing Cologne Dada before moving to Paris, and this particular portfolio exemplifies the transitional phase between Dada's aggressive nihilism and the psychic automatism that would soon define Surrealism. The ironic title, Fiat modes pereat ars, or "Down With Art," summarizes the anti-art stance taken by the 1920 generation. The print showcases Ernst's early mastery of creating disturbing and poetic juxtapositions using commercially reproduced source material. This historic and culturally important print is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), ensuring its permanent study and accessibility as a prime example of early twentieth-century modernism.