Having been forced to move from his native Germany to New York in 1938 when he was 18 years old, Jimmy Ernst joined a group of young artists experimenting with surrealist painting techniques in New York City in the mid-20th century and became a U.S. citizen in 1952. His art is a beautiful combination of his early artistic education, his love and knowledge of Native American culture, jazz music, and a refined meticulousness (perhaps derived from his early work as a typesetter).
Jimmy chose to develop his own path at the center of Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, his European background and his embrace of his new U.S. home. Jimmy would often refer to his inner eye as the fountainhead of his work. You can see his interests in scientific theory, physics, atomic theory, structure of matter, combined with his musical experiences with American jazz. He passed away in 1984, just following the publication of his exceptional autobiography, A Not-So-Still Life.
