Amid the steel canyons of the Financial District, the Transamerica Redwood Park stands as a rare oasis. Now, hidden in the shadow of the building, a group of fantastical beings has taken up residence among dozens of redwoods: 12 sculptures by one of the most important surrealist artists of the 20th century, Max Ernst.
Sphinx et Sirène by Max Ernst, Saint-Martin-d'Ardeche, France, 1939 by Lee Miller. © Lee Miller Archives, England 2025. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk
By Sam Mondros
Max Ernst’s fantastical bronze works take up residency in an oasis of redwoods in downtown San Francisco.
This outdoor installation, curated and acquired by Gallery Wendi Norris in concert with the building’s developer Michael Shvo, opened last week, bringing these works together publicly for the first time since Ernst made them in 1938.
The hulking statues, cast in bronze with a green patina, form a cohesive sculptural environment that reflects the artist’s romance with surrealist painter Leonora Carrington and the idyllic life they led on the lam in the years before World War II. It is the perfect respite from the hustle — and scents — of downtown and a unique opportunity to see cultural and historical artifacts up close.
“If you want to understand Max Ernst, these sculptures are a key part of understanding his legacy,” said Wendi Norris, who was loaned the works by the artist’s family and entrusted to curate their first public exhibition.
What they are
Feeling uneasy about the prospect of war and already branded a centerpiece of the “degenerate art movement,” as the Nazis called it, Ernst and Carrington fled Paris in 1938 for Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche, a hamlet in the South of France, where they lived in a cottage. There, Ernst created an enchanting group of sculptures to populate the garden, while Carrington adorned the interior walls with mystical murals.
The artistic Eden was short-lived. After war was declared in 1939, Ernst was twice imprisoned — first by the French as a German national and later by the Gestapo. His escape to the United States marked a critical turning point in his life and in the migration of avant-garde art to the New World.
The sculptures he left behind, restored in this installation, are described in an essay published by the Gallery Wendi Norris as “the last breath of the avant-garde before its relocation to the other side of the ocean.”
Ernst’s otherworldly bronze creatures summon mythologies from ancient Rome, Egypt, and Syria. Mermaids, sphinxes, and totemic figures gather in silent conversation, anchored by the recurring presence of “Loplop” — Ernst’s alter ego, an anthropomorphic bird who serves as trickster and guide through his layered dreamworlds.
How they got here
Three years ago, the Ernst family asked Norris if she’d be interested in creating an exhibition showcasing the sculptures. Waiting for the right moment, Norris noticed Shvo’s penchant for modernism, through the exhibitions and events the developer has organized since taking over the Transamerica Pyramid in 2020, and knew she had found the right venue for the sculptures.
“In that first conversation I had with Michael Shvo, he was schooling me on Max Ernst,” said Norris, who has worked extensively with the estates of Ernst, Carrington, and Ernst’s fourth wife, the painter Dorothea Tanning. “When I told the families we were doing this, they got really emotional. Ernst is, in my mind, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public through Dec. 14. Whether you’re a seasoned Ernst lover or a curious wanderer, step beneath the trees and meet the creatures who once inhabited a surrealist garden — and who, for a while, will call San Francisco home.
July 21, 2025
