Herbert List left Germany in the 1930s. He embarked on extensive travels through Greece and Italy in a search for his language of form between New Objectivity and Surrealism. Immersed in the classical architecture of Athens and the surrealists’ paintings of De Chirico and Max Ernst, List tenaciously produced works focused on form and composition. He used the Mediterranean light to transform mundane objects into surreal compositions. One unifying subject which List continued throughout his career was the male form.