Europe after the Rain II

7:00 AM

Max Ernst, Europe after the Rain II, 1941
Its hard to say how at first glance you would like this painting, its simply too difficult to pinpoint something that's done masterfully. Spend some time simply tracing lines with your finger on the computer screen and you manage to lose your place. Every time (well, at least I did).  A complete mess, greatly resembling my room, so I shouldn't be one to critique. Once I finally gave up tracing, it hit, the tragedy that is Europe after the Rain II:t The mangled faces, shear destruction, pinning you down, drowning you in sorrow and happiness that you are nowhere near that.

 WWII instilled fear, not just fear like my sheer hatred for spiders fear, but an uncertainty of waking up the next day fear. Max Ernst, a German national felt strongly about his roots and his country, was heartbroken by the images of this destructive human abomination, so he decided to paint what he saw in his mind. Separating each section of the painting you notice each level of destruction, even the people painted are denouncing their surroundings in hopes of escaping the ravaged landscape. The volume of emotion this painting expels after closer examination is astonishing, almost reaching out and clenching your heart, grossly unsettling. 

 By far the most striking aspect of this piece is the use of color. Light hughes of blue green mixed in with white clouds merge into black, the dramatic end to Europe as it was once known.

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