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

The Title page from Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art (Fiat modes pereat ars) was created by Max Ernst in 1920. Classified as a print, the work utilizes the mechanical techniques of letterpress and line block, mediums favored by Dada artists for their inherent reproducibility and rejection of traditional fine art craftsmanship. Created during the volatile post-WWI era, the piece embodies the cynical and anti-establishment sentiment central to the European cultural movement of the 1920s. This significant print currently resides in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Ernst was a central figure in the German and later French Dada movements, which sought to dismantle conventional logic and aesthetic norms through satire, photomontage, and absurdity. The titular command, Fiat modes pereat ars (Let fashion be made, let art perish), encapsulates this subversive philosophy, placing ephemeral consumer culture (fashion) above the perceived elitism and lasting value historically ascribed to 'Art.'

This provocative title page exemplifies the Dada strategy of challenging high culture through the adoption of industrial and commercial printing methods. The use of simple, widely accessible processes, like line block and letterpress, underlines the movement’s challenge to the scarcity and manual skill associated with traditional painting and sculpture.

As a foundational work of French Dada, this print remains a vital reference point for understanding the turbulent shift in modernist aesthetics during the early 1920s. Ernst’s conceptual approach to the printed page established new standards for graphic design and avant-garde literature. These historical prints, though typically preserved in limited museum and institutional collections, demonstrate the powerful and enduring use of reproductive technology that characterized much of the artistic output of the 1920s. The long-term preservation of such influential graphic works ensures their accessibility, often leading to their eventual inclusion in the public domain for scholarly study and reference.