Max-Ernest's name seems to be inspired by the life of Max Ernst, a pivotal German artist in the Surrealist movement who had a significant career in art, marked by interactions with influential artists and a tumultuous experience during and after the wars.
The story behind the name Max-Ernest likely derives from the influence and life of Max Ernst, the German artist who was significant to the Surrealist movement. Max Ernst was born in Germany and studied at the University at Bonn. Although he started studying philosophy, he switched to art and built connections with Post-Impressionists and Dadaists. During World War I, Ernst was conscripted into the German Army and served for four years. His postwar time was marked by his involvement in Surrealism alongside figures like André Breton, and he collaborated with renowned artists like Salvador Dali and Joan Miró.
In the early 1930s, Ernst had successful exhibitions in New York but had to return to France where he would be jailed in 1939. However, in 1941 he managed to escape and fled with Peggy Guggenheim, who became his wife. After divorcing Guggenheim post-World War II, Ernst married Dorothea Tanning and moved back to France.