Three Sharks in Search of a Victim 1967

Max Ernst made this print called, *Three Sharks in Search of a Victim*, but when? The date is nowhere to be found! It's like the piece itself, ambiguous and open-ended. I love the texture that Ernst achieves here, like the paper has been gently abraded to create a subtle, almost shimmering surface. The composition has such a light touch. Thin, black lines arc and intersect, hinting at the forms of sharks without ever quite resolving into a clear image. Then you notice the eyes, these small dots or squares of color that lend the piece an anthropomorphic quality. It's funny, unsettling, and kind of beautiful. Ernst was a big influence on a lot of later artists, including Cy Twombly, who also embraced this kind of scribbled, intuitive mark-making. It's like they're both saying, "Art doesn't have to be perfect or literal to be powerful." It can be a space for play, for exploration, for just letting the hand lead the way.