The Elephant Celebes

Title: The Elephant Celebes (1921)

Artist: Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976).

Technique: Oil on canvas.

Location: Tate Gallery, London, UK.

Dimensions: 125.4 x 107.9 cm.  

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The central focus of the painting is a giant mechanical elephant. It is round and has a trunk-like hose protruding from it. The creature has a frilly metallic cuff or collar, and a horned head and tail. The low horizon emphasizes the creature's bulk, and the gesture of the headless mannequin introduces the viewer to the figure. The mostly empty sky contains more incongruities: there are two fish "flying" at left. The black shape to the right of the fish looks like an oncoming airplane, and there is a trail of smoke in the right part of the sky. 

The painting is overall filled with action; several things are happening at the same time: the elephant with his curved trunk is smoking like a chimney, which makes it, look like a working factory. The headless mannequin seems to be “waving”. The sky seems almost alive due to the dark brushstrokes and the fishes at its top left.  The vertical line on the left breaks symmetry from the central body and brings dynamism. 

 This dynamism is nonetheless subdued due to a grayish dull and black color. Some bright colors have been used as well to bring dynamism and transform to the abstraction of the painting. The dark colors and the geometrical shapes create a very strict, severe yet worrying mood. By taking into account the historical context, this painting may make allusion to the “mechanical terror” of the war experience.  

Mostly curved lines have been used, giving an overall dynamic feel. The central space is occupied by some geometrical curves; the bust on the right corner brings to relief, naturalistic ones. The elements of juxtaposition and shadows create a three dimensional representation, though some of the shadows defy angle relation to other shadows, such as the elephant’s right leg’s shadow compared to the shadows of hose pipe, vertical line at left and left leg of the elephant.