1891: Max Ernst is born on 2 April in Brühl, close to Cologne, to a teacher named Philipp Ernst and his wife Luise (née Knopp).
1909–1914: Studies philosophy, psychology and art history at the University of Bonn.
1911: Becomes friends with August Macke.
1913: Ernst writes art and theater criticism and takes part in the exhibition Rheinische Expressionisten (Rhine Expressionists) in Bonn. Meets Hans Arp and Robert Delaunay.
1914: Following the outbreak of World War I, he volunteers for military service.
1915: Ernst exhibits at the Berlin gallery “Der Sturm” and meets George Grosz and Wieland Herzfelde while on leave from the front.
1918: Ernst is promoted to lieutenant against his will. After the end of the war, he returns to Cologne and marries Luise Strauß. They have one son together.
1919: Together with Arp, Ernst co-founds Cologne art group- Zentrale W/3. In the period that follows, he creates numerous collages.
1922: Moves to Paris. Regular participation in the meetings and exhibitions of the Surrealists.
1923: Ernst´s painting “Rendezvous of the Friends” is exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants.
1925: Ernst invents a new work technique for pencil drawings- frottage. A year later, he invents grattage and decalcomania for painting. These techniques define his typical style.
1932: Participates in the foundation meeting of the Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists.
1933: Ernst is ostracised by the National Socialists.
1934: Begins to work on sculptures.
1937: Two of his paintings are included in the NS exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art).
1939: As a German living in France, at the beginning of the Second World War, Ernst is interned. The intervention of Éluard gets him released for Christmas.
1940: Interned again. Ernst escapes the detention camp twice.
1941: Flees to the USA by way of Madrid and Lisbon. In the USA, he is initially listed as an enemy alien. Marries the art collector Peggy Guggenheim. They divorce two years later.
1942: Together with other expatriates, Ernst publishes the magazine VVV. It becomes the basis of a Surrealist movement in the USA.
1946: He marries the painter Dorothea Tanning and they settle together in Arizona.
1948: Ernst becomes a American citizen.
1951: On the occasion of his 60th birthday, the city of Brühl organises a retrospective that travels to other locations.
1953: Returns to Paris.
1955: The magazine Médium announces that Ernst has been excluded from the Surrealist circle for having accepted the award for painting at the 27th Venice Biennale the previous year. Moves to Huismes, close to Tours, in France.
1958: He becomes a French citizen.
1960: Publication of his book “La nudité de la femme est plus sage que l´enseignement du philosophie” (Woman’s Nudity is Wiser Than the Philosopher’s Teachings).
1963: Peter Schamoni directs the film Max Ernst – Journeys of Discovery into the Unconscious in Huismes.
1964: Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. Moves to the village of Seillans in Provence, France.
1966: Conferred with the Officer of the Legion of Honour. Ernst turns down the Honorary Citizenship of the city of Brühl.
1970: Honorary Professorship at the University of Bonn.
1975: Travels to New York to open his retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The last retrospective during his lifetime is at the Grand Palais in Paris.
1976: Max Ernst dies in Paris on April 1.
