to induce surrealist dreams...

i picked up a 1975 issue of art news at the flea market on sunday for a buck, mainly because it featured a small article on richard smith; but the real discovery was an ad for a max ernst edition pictured above, called the "cage-bed with screen."

the bed and screen were made in an edition of 99, published by modern art associations, and was exhibited at leonard hutton galleries from february to march of 1975. the edition included: the bedcover (made of mink fur), the sculpted "cage" bed frame, and the screen which contained 2 signed lithos.

i haven't done much research on this, but until this morning, it was an ernst endeavor i'd never come across. i believe it is one of the few environments he created in the latter part of his career - somewhat hokey and kind of related to some of the environmental and furniture pieces that dali editioned late in his own career, although not nearly as lame.

while it would be easy to sneer at ernst's attempt to bring some of his most ernstian imagery into a weirdly victorian installation context, i find myself thinking it is actually pretty interesting - not because it resonates any stronger than his paintings or collages (it definitely doesn't), but because it is pretty darn interesting that someone who worked with dream imagery for much of his career, would create a sleeping environment that could be purchased and installed in anyone's home (anyone who had the dough and the room of course...)