“Illustration to ‘A Week of Kindness'”, created by Max Ernst in 1934 in Paris, France, is a work rendered in the medium of collage on paper. The artwork, a part of the Surrealism movement, measures 18 by 13 centimeters and is classified under the genre of illustration. It is one piece from the series “A Week of Kindness” and is housed in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, located in Stuttgart, Germany.
The artwork depicts a surreal and dreamlike scene characteristic of the Surrealist genre. In the illustration, figures appear in a domestic interior setting with a woman kneeling on the floor, her gaze directed downward towards small, fantastical creatures resembling dragons. The room is ornately decorated, with chairs and a detailed picture frame which contains a melancholic figure with his head resting sorrowfully on his hands. Two men in formal attire are seen exiting the frame, while another central figure stands in the foreground, adding to the sense of an odd and unsettling narrative. The piece is marked by a juxtaposition of ordinary surroundings with extraordinary and bizarre elements, evoking a sense of mystery and enigma typical of Max Ernst’s work.
