As I entered the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA I was instantly overwhelmed. The number of artworks in the building seems endless. One got my attention more than the others. Possibly because of the largeness of the piece. Or maybe it was because it was alone on a white wall and in the main, big room. It seemed a bit out of place as it was surrounded by the typical “European Art” and this style was not like the others.

Max Ernst’s Tree of Life is an oil on canvas. It was easily twice as tall as me with the exact dimensions being 114×82 ¾ inches. The first thing I noticed was the strange bird-like figure at the center. In deep shades of blue, black, and brown accents the bird seems to be in distress. It is definitely not at peace. To the left of the giant bird-like figure there is another bird figure, but this is only a head. Painted in bright red and orange. The lines allow your eye to follow as it abruptly fades into the background. The eye is highlighted by the same blue color in the other figure. Dotted yellow and black lines around the eye lead you into another figure that resembles a snake. This “snake” then loops around and slithers down the work into a dripping, straight, black line. It is almost centered. I took a step back and start to take in the entire piece. The colors are repetitive. White, blue, black, red, more blues. Then I start to dissect it. The background is a sky blue, on top of that a layer of white. The white reminds me of water flowing, and there are smudges of black, red, blue, even green maybe? This all reminds me of a beach as the tide moves up and down and washes away sand and trails of the water paths are left behind. If you keep looking you see some scratches on this layer. And then, out of nowhere… there are crabs. Yes, crabs. Four red crabs and one black crab. They are layered on top of the “snake” and somehow in front of and behind the main bird-like figure.

The crabs really throw me. I am not sure why they are there. They look like they are stenciled or stamped on, as each is too identical and perfect. The only difference being the color they are. In the bottom right of the work there is a black circle with dots. It reminds me of one of those things that go in your sink to catch food waste. Again, this is too perfect, it too looks stenciled and maybe this mark was made with charcoal as it is blurred, too. A perfectly round ring surrounds it, and the circular object tries to blend into the colorful smudges behind it. The last thing I noticed was a webbed like foot, painted in a comparable way as the snake. A black dotted outline and shaded with the smudges of black or blue, red, and orange. The painting is like a beautiful dream that you cannot seem to understand. And when you think you have seen it all, another surprise appears and draws you back in like a wave in the ocean.