Shaving the Walls (Rasant les murs) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle)

Shaving the Walls (Rasant les murs) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle) is a seminal work by Max Ernst, created circa 1925 and published in 1926 as one from a defining portfolio of 34 collotype prints. This piece epitomizes Ernst’s pioneering use of frottage, a technique he developed in August 1925 involving the systematic rubbing of a pencil or crayon over paper placed upon textured materials like wood grain, fabric, or woven baskets. The final classification of this work is a collotype, a high-quality photomechanical print that ensured the widespread dissemination of these radical new images.

The delicate, organic forms captured in Shaving the Walls (Rasant les murs) are characteristic of the Histoire naturelle series. Ernst viewed frottage as a method of automatic drawing, translating the random reality of surface texture into the structured, yet uncanny, language of Surrealist subconscious exploration. The resultant image here suggests either a vast, ambiguous architectural space being stripped bare, or perhaps a microscopic biological structure seen under powerful magnification. The deliberate absence of conscious control in the creation process perfectly aligned with the principles of French Surrealism emerging forcefully in the mid-1920s.

The portfolio, published by Jeanne Bucher, firmly established Ernst’s reputation as a key innovator in printmaking and Surrealist theory. By transforming his original fragile drawings into durable, high-quality collotype prints, Ernst guaranteed the accessibility of the work to a wider audience, influencing subsequent generations of artists exploring chance and materiality. This important piece, originating from the French avant-garde art scene of c. 1925, published 1926, is an essential example of the period’s commitment to new mechanical reproduction methods. This work, along with the complete series of prints, is preserved in the extensive collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).