Ernst's investigations of hypnotic surfaces involved building impact through pictorial structure. His paintings went well beyond the hallucinatory repetitions found in Surrealism and they link more closely with research into the expressive potential of materials that engaged the new avant-garde generation. Most significantly, his thoughts were also in step with, or ahead of, emerging ideas about perceptual effects.

Phyllis Braff, from Jimmy Ernst: Transcending the Surreal, Springfield Art Museum. Springfield, Missouri. 2002