Grattage is a 20th-century painting technique closely associated with the Surrealist movement. The term derives from the French verb gratter, meaning “to scrape” or “to scratch,” and refers to a method in which paint applied to a surface is partially removed using pointed tools or everyday objects, revealing underlying textures or colors. The resulting surface exhibits abstract and unpredictable forms, where chance and artistic control interact to produce complex and original compositions.
Origins & Development with Max Ernst
Grattage emerged between 1926 and 1927 through the work of Max Ernst (1891-1976), who conceived it as a pictorial extension of frottage, a technique he had explored earlier with paper, pencil, and textured surfaces. In frottage, impressions are obtained by rubbing graphite over irregular materials, whereas grattage applies the same principle to oil paint. Ernst layered paint on canvases placed over textured supports—such as veined wood, metal meshes, rough surfaces, or fragments of glass—and then partially removed it using spatulas, blades, or other tools. This process produced unforeseen, chance-driven effects, which the artist could either leave in their spontaneous form or rework into figurative elements.
The technique is closely aligned with Surrealist poetics, founded on the principle of psychic automatism and the liberation of the unconscious. Grattage allowed access to unforeseen images, stimulating the imagination and evoking fantastic visions beyond rational control. It provided a means of visualizing internal landscapes in which spontaneity and creative intuition governed the production of forms.
Technical Characteristics
Technically, grattage consists of removing the upper layer of paint to expose underlying color strata. The scratched surface demonstrates strong contrasts in light and hue. The final effect varies depending on the tools used, which may include spatulas, blades, scalpels, metal brushes, sponges, metal blocks, or everyday objects.
Unlike frottage, which mainly produces graphic marks, grattage generates painterly and textural effects, imparting depth and rhythm to the surface. When removal is subtle, the marks appear muted and gray; when more incisive, the underlying colors emerge vividly. Ernst often completed scratched backgrounds with additional brushwork, producing images oscillating between abstraction and fantastical figuration.
Works by Max Ernst
Several works exemplify the centrality of grattage in Ernst’s oeuvre. In Forest and Dove (1927), the trees adopt ossified forms resembling a fishbone pattern, while the nocturnal, visionary atmosphere contrasts with the naive figure of a dove. In Le Grand Amoureux I (1926), the technique introduces structural variety akin to collage, creating visual contrasts and a sense of estrangement. In Montrant à une jeune fille la tête de son père (1926–27), granular marks derived from the wooden support are transformed into an unsettling vision, evoking a “Freudian nightmare.”
Ernst himself reflected on the method in his essay What Is Surrealism? (1934), expressing his “joy in every successful metamorphosis” and emphasizing that grattage enabled him to move beyond “the tedious paradise of fixed memories,” opening the path to experiences where the boundaries between internal and external realities became fluid.
Dissemination & Influence
Grattage quickly spread among Surrealist artists and influenced later movements. Joan Miró (1893-1983) employed it in works such as The Gold of the Azure, where circular blue strokes were obtained by scraping paint. For Miró, the gesture resembled a primordial scratch, symbolizing the very origin of creation.
The technique was also adopted by postwar Art Informel. Hans Hartung (1904-89) developed a gestural language based on broad, decisive scratches and incisions executed with modified tools, rollers, and metal points, creating a visual language that transformed the canvas into a field of dynamic energy. Jean Dubuffet (1981-85) and other informal artists used it to rebel against traditional forms, emphasizing spontaneous gestures and materiality.
During the 1940s and 1950s, grattage became a symbol of the desire to transcend predetermined forms, replacing them with the immediacy of mark and action. The practice did not imply formlessness but rather ongoing experimentation, error, and metamorphosis, consistent with the notion of art as an open-ended process rather than a fixed product.
Contemporary Interpretations
Grattage remains relevant beyond the 20th century, with contemporary artists reviving and adapting the technique to modern materials and sensibilities. Contemporary practitioners include the Italian artist Giovanni Guida (born 1992), who has developed a pictorial language emphasizing dynamic gestures and the expressive weight of the mark. In his work, grattage is combined with resin-based waterproofing techniques, which isolate color layers and prevent unwanted blending, allowing precise paint removal and enhancing pigment brilliance.
In Guida’s “grattages,” deep grooves reveal vivid colors, highlighting contrasts and the tension between gesture and materiality. He employs both traditional tools and everyday objects, transforming the paint into a torn, fragmented surface. The resulting compositions balance abstraction and figuration, achieving a distinctive equilibrium.
Historical & Artistic Significance
Beyond its technical aspects, grattage represents a pivotal moment in 20th-century painting. Its invention addressed the Surrealist need to liberate imagination and embrace chance as a creative instrument, while also paving the way for explorations of gesture, materiality, and mark-making in subsequent movements. Grattage influenced Surrealism, abstraction, Art Informel, and contemporary practices, demonstrating the enduring potential of texture and process as expressive tools.
Today, grattage is also used in educational and experimental contexts, stimulating creativity, enhancing sensitivity to material perception, and encouraging the discovery of latent images. Its dual nature—poised between control and unpredictability—makes it an effective method for exploring the relationship between artist, gesture, and surface.
