Lot 6
  • 6

Max Ernst

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
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Description

  • Max Ernst
  • Le Génie de la Bastille
  • numbered E.A. 2/3 and inscribed with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris
  • bronze
  • height 123 1/4 in.
  • 313.1 cm

Provenance

Private Collection, Zürich
Thomas Amman Fine Art, Zürich
Acquired by the present owner in 1985

Exhibited

Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, on loan from 1997-2003
Durham, North Carolina, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, The Evolution of the Nasher Collection, October 2005 - May 2006

Literature

Werner Spies, Max Ernst, Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Köln, 1998, no. 3818, I, illustration of another cast, p. 404

Condition

This work was cast in two pieces that attach securely. The top piece includes the figure and approximately 2.5 feet of the pole and the second piece is the remainder of the pole and the circular base. The figure at top is in very good condition. Some minor pitting and staining to upward-facing surfaces and some surface dirt in the crevices. The pole is in good condition. Some surface dirt and a few tiny nicks and minor stains throughout. There is water-staining to the top of the circular base. Otherwise fine.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Illustrations in the catalogue may not be actual size. Prospective purchasers are reminded that, unless the catalogue description specifically states that a stone is natural, we have assumed that some form of treatment may have been used and that such treatment may not be permanent. Our presale estimates reflect this assumption.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

After having fled Europe for America at the outbreak of World War II, Ernst returned to France in 1953 with his fourth wife, Dorothea Tanning (see figure 1). Upon his return, Ernst was welcomed with international acclaim as a master of Modern art. By the time he conceived of the current work in 1960, the couple had moved to the South of France so that Ernst could pursue his artistic concerns in relative privacy. The artist's late works, sculptural and otherwise, reveal a profoundly imaginative vocabulary of recurring images and figures. Though the echoes of his involvement in both the Dada and Surrealist movements are resonant in these late works, there is a wholly personal evolution that leads to their genesis.

Le Génie de la Bastille incorporates the artist's personal lexicon of imagery with a notable emphasis on the influences of primitive and tribal art. The composition recalls the structure of a tribal totem pole and the figure reveals a simplification of form similar to early Cycladic sculpture. Examples of such artifacts were omnipresent at World Fairs and in private collections throughout Europe (see figure 2), and Ernst was undoubtedly exposed to this imagery. The influences from these works reverberate through the oeuvres of master Modern sculptors such as Brancusi, Picasso and Giacometti. Ernst's appropriation of this trend provided an individual and fresh interpretation. Much of his later work in sculpture incorporates these influences and Le Génie de La Bastille is an outstanding example of his ability to combine this intellectual nod to artistic precedent with a playful and imaginative sensibility.