Kunsthaus Zürich

This guide to Kunsthaus Zürich centers on a Max Ernst mural painted in 1934 for a nightclub bar, the Dancing Mascotte, after board member Wladimir Rosenbaum threatened to resign unless the club hired a surrealist. Ernst spread oil across eighteen wooden panels of tangled petals and a reclining woman, hiding his own face somewhere in the foliage. For roughly three decades the painting hung where drinkers leaned their chairs back against it, soaking up cigarette smoke and spilled wine. Look behind the café counter today to find the very canvas that survived it.