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The Antipope | The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation We use cookies to deliver our online services and to provide more personalized services to you. Details and instructions on how to disable those cookies are set out in our Privacy Policy. By clicking I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies unless you have disabled them. I Accept We're sorry but this site doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Please enable it to continue. The The Antipope page has loaded. Skip to main content.VisitPlan Your VisitExhibitionsGroup ToursCOVID-19 Safety MeasuresResources for Your VisitThe Frank Lloyd Wright Building 1071 Fifth Ave, New York, NY (Between 88th and 89th Streets) TicketsBuy TicketsAll visitors must reserve timed tickets in advance. Online ResourcesCollection OnlineFor Kids and FamiliesOnline CoursesVirtual Group ToursBlogsCalendar Learn about conversations, performances, and family-friendly programming on the calendar. TicketsBuy TicketsArtExhibitionsCollection OnlineInitiativesPerformancePublicationsSee masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection including work by artists such as Cézanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. Join & GiveMembershipContribute Your generous support is essential in planning for the Guggenheim’s future. Donate ResearchLibrary and ArchivesConservationEducationCuratorial Learn about the Guggenheim’s groundbreaking research and delve into the museum’s archives. TicketsShop Search Today’s ScheduleTodayWednesday, January 4, 2023Hours and AdmissionThe museum is open today from 11:00 am–6:00 pm. The store is open from 11:00 am–6:00 pm.Buy TicketsExhibitionsThrough February 20, 2023Alex Katz: GatheringThrough April 10, 2023Nick Cave: ForothermoreOngoingThannhauser CollectionMore exhibitionsEventsNo events scheduled for today.See the calendarCollection OnlineArtistsDates Filter1860s1870s1880s1890s1900s1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990s2000s2010sMediums FilterFilm/VideoInstallationInternet ArtPaintingPhotographySculptureWork on paperMovements FilterAbstract ExpressionismArt BrutArt InformelArte PoveraBauhausConceptual artConstructivismCubismDadaDe StijlExpressionismFuturismHappeningsHard-edge paintingImpressionismKinetic artMinimalismNeo-ConceptualismNeo-DadaNeo-ExpressionismNetworked artNeue SachlichkeitNouveau RealismeOrphismPerformancePhotorealismPop artPost-ImpressionismPost-MinimalismPost-painterly abstractionPrimitivismProcess artPurismSchool of ParisSite-specific art/Environmental artSuprematismSurrealismSymbolismSpecial Collections FilterCollections CouncilDeutsche Guggenheim CommissionsGuggenheim UBS MAP Purchase FundInternational Director’s CouncilKarl Nierendorf EstateKatherine S. Dreier BequestPeggy Guggenheim CollectionPhotography CouncilSolomon R. Guggenheim Founding CollectionThannhauser CollectionThe Bohen Foundation GiftThe Hilla Rebay CollectionThe Panza CollectionThe Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation CollectionThe Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation GiftYoung Collectors CouncilVenues FilterSolomon R. Guggenheim MuseumPeggy Guggenheim CollectionGuggenheim Museum BilbaoMax ErnstThe AntipopeMax Ernst settled in New York in 1941 after escaping from Europe with the help of Peggy Guggenheim. The same year he executed a small oil on cardboard (now in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection) that became the basis for the large-scale The Antipope. When Guggenheim saw the small version, she interpreted a dainty horse-human figure on the right as Ernst, who was being fondled by a woman she identified as herself. She wrote that Ernst conceded that a third figure, depicted in a three-quarter rear view, was her daughter Pegeen; she did not attempt to identify another horse-headed female to the left.¹ When Ernst undertook the large version from December to March he changed the body of the “Peggy” figure into a greenish column and transferred her amorous gesture to a new character, who wears a pink tunic and is depicted in a relatively naturalistic way. The “Pegeen” figure in the center appears to have two faces, one of a flayed horse that looks at the horse-woman at the left. The other, with only its cheek and jaw visible, gazes in the opposite direction, out over the grim lagoon, like a pensive subject conceived by Caspar David Friedrich.The great upheavals in Ernst’s personal life during this period encourage such a biographical interpretation. Despite his marriage to Guggenheim, he was deeply involved with Leonora Carrington at this time, and spent hours riding horses with her. As birds were an obsession for Ernst, so horses were for Carrington. Her identification with them is suggested throughout her collection of stories La Dame ovale, published in 1939 with seven illustrations by Ernst, two of which include metamorphosed horse creatures. It seems plausible that the alienated horse-woman of The Antipope, who twists furtively to watch the other horse-figure, represents a vision of Guggenheim. Like the triumphal bride in Attirement of the Bride, she wears an owl headgear. Her irreconcilable separation from her companion is expressed graphically by the device of the diagonally positioned spear that bisects the canvas. The features of the green totemic figure resemble those of Carrington, whose relationship with Ernst was to end soon after the painting was completed, when she moved to Mexico with her husband.Lucy Flint1. See P. Guggenheim, Out of This Century: Confessions of an Art Addict, New York, 1979, pp. 261–62. ArtistMax Ernstb. 1891, Brühl, Germany; d. 1976, ParisTitleThe AntipopeDateDecember 1941–March 1942MediumOil on canvasDimensions63 1/4 x 50 inches (160.8 x 127.1 cm)Credit LineThe Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 1976Accession76.2553.80Copyright© 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, ParisArtwork TypePaintingHoursSunday–Friday 11 am–6 pm Saturday 11 am–8 pm Members-only hours select Mondays, 6–8 pm Plan your visitAddress1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10128 (Between 88th and 89th Streets) Buy TicketsLocationGet directions on Google MapsaboutAbout UsHistoryFoundationStaffCareersInternshipsinquiriesPress RoomHost an EventImage LicensingLocation ShootsContact UsresourcesAccessibilityEducatorsFamilies & KidsGroupsMembersdiscover MoreAudioBlogsNewsVideolocationsAbu DhabiBilbaoVeniceStay connected. Sign up to receive email updates on our exhibitions, events, and more.Subscribe for updatesGlobal PartnersUNESCO World Heritage ListTerms and ConditionsPrivacy PolicyUse of CookiesSite Index© 2023 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation