ABSTRACT
How does one discuss in psychoanalytic terms the work of an artist who has read and admired Freud’s writings? Although Werner Spies denies that a sophisticated artist like Max Ernst can be understood through application of the psychoanalytic method (Spies, 1971, p. 38), the method can apply to anyone. Analysts can be analyzed. Yet the artist’s knowledge does complicate the matter. Which part of the artist’s work is pure transcription of aspects of his unconscious and which part is quite conscious quotation from his readings of Freud? Freud’s case histories, dream interpretations, and explanations of puns could be used by modern artists much as artists in the past had used the Bible. But to the Surrealists, and especially to Ernst, psychoanalysis meant more. Psychoanalysis was at the heart of their method. They took pride in their ability to look within themselves for their subjects; in an artistic sphere they emulated Freud’s own self-analysis. Ernst consciously and deliberately set up artistic situations in which he could attempt to plumb his own unconscious. In such an artist’s work conscious and unconscious elements intermingle.
