The Conjugal Diamonds (Les Diamants conjugaux) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle)

The Conjugal Diamonds (Les Diamants conjugaux) from Natural History (Histoire naturelle) is a seminal work by Max Ernst, created in 1925. This piece is one of 34 collotypes derived from the artist's pioneering use of frottage, a technique central to Surrealist image-making. The comprehensive Histoire naturelle series marks a pivotal moment in Ernst’s career and in the development of automatism in prints during the French cultural shift toward Surrealism. The image, though abstract, evokes mineral formations and organic structures, reflecting the unconscious discovery inherent in the technique.

Ernst developed frottage by placing paper over textured surfaces, such as wood grain or leaves, and rubbing it with graphite or colored media to capture subtle reliefs. The resulting textures, meticulously reproduced here as collotypes, suggest geological forms, fossils, and complex, biomorphic structures. In this particular print, the texture takes on a dense, crystalline structure, perhaps referencing the "diamonds" suggested in the title. Ernst’s goal was to circumvent rational control, allowing the surface textures to generate subconscious imagery, a practice crucial to the aesthetics of the period around c. 1925. This method provided a mechanical means of exploring the subconscious, transforming the everyday into the marvelous.

The full portfolio, published in 1926, demonstrated how printed graphic arts could utilize mechanical reproduction techniques like collotype to achieve highly personal, psychological depth. As a foundational example of Surrealist graphic art within French culture, this piece remains a critical reference point for understanding the movement's focus on the uncanny and the automatic. This stunning print, a cornerstone of Surrealist art, is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.