The History of Capricorn Hill
In 1946 Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning moved to Sedona from New York, to buy land and build a house and studio. They picked a pristine property with hilltop views around the corner from what today is called Tlaquepaque in the heart of Sedona.
In this inspirational location, they created paintings and sculptures that today are in over 60 museums around the world. Famous artists and friends in the artworld made pilgrimages to visit and stay in this surreal location in the beautiful southwest.
Read the story of the history at the property at the Smithsonian here.
About Capricorn Hill Center for Surrealism
The Capricorn Hill Center for Surrealism, located in Sedona, Arizona, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes art education and research about the surrealism movement and its impact on the global art movement, both historically and contemporaneously, and restores and preserves the historical structures and artworks at Capricorn Hill, the location of Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning’s home and studio.
Max Ernst, a key founder of the Dada and Surrealism movements, and Dorothea Tanning, a pre-eminent American surrealist, moved to Sedona in 1946 to build their home and studios on a pristine hill top location in the historic Brewer district. The artworks they created can be found in over 60 museums around the globe.
Max Ernst was one of the most prolific and original artists of the 20th century. After marrying American artist Dorothea Tanning in 1946, the couple moved to Sedona, Arizona where they lived until 1953. It was in Sedona that Ernst completed his monumental masterpiece Capricorn. Originally constructed in cement from castings of milk bottles, automobile springs, and other cast offs, the free-standing sculpture was situated opposite the house Ernst built by hand on Brewer Road. The sculpture was reworked in 1964 and cast in bronze, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. - Smithsonian Institute