Max Ernst

Robert Elkon Gallery, New York
Galerie Saqqârah (Georges Marci-Monet), Gstaad
Sale: Sotheby's, London, 5th December 1973, lot 93
Modarco Collection (purchased at the above sale)
Hans Strelow, Düsseldorf
Galerie Bischofberger, Zurich
Harold Diamond, New York
Private Collection, USA (acquired from the above)
James Goodman Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

New York, Reid Mansion, First Papers of Surrealism, 1942
Bern, Kunsthalle, Phantastische Kunst - Surrealismus, 1966, no. 55, illustrated in the catalogue
Hamburg, Hamburger Kunstverein, Malerei des Surrealismus von den Anfängen bis heute, 1969, no. 45, illustrated in the catalogue and on the cover
Antwerp, Maison Osterreich, 40 chefs-d'œuvre de la collection Modarco, 1975
Huntington, New York, The Heckscher Museum, Six Decades of Collecting: Masterworks from Long Island Collections, 1981
Flushing, New York, The Queens Museum, Masterpieces of Twentieth Century Art, 1983
Roslyn, New York, Nassau County Museum of Art, Surrealism, 1995
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Max Ernst: A Retrospective, 2005, no. 140, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Werner Spies, Max Ernst, Œuvre-Katalog, Werke 1939-1953, Cologne, 1987, no. 2429, illustrated p. 66
Sarane Alexandrian, Les Peintres Surréalistes, Paris, 2009, illustrated in colour pp. 172-173

The canvas is lined. There are areas and lines of retouching throughout the composition, visible under ultra-violet light. This work is in good stable condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although the blue does not have a purple tonality and the colours are overall slightly fresher in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Surrealism was painted in New York in 1942 at the request of Marcel Duchamp, a few months after Ernst’s escape from war-torn Europe. Ernst’s standing as one of the foremost Surrealist artists caused Duchamp to request from him a painting for the show First Papers of Surrealism that he was organising in New York. This exhibition, the first devoted to Surrealism since the outbreak of war, focused on the work of Ernst, Duchamp, Masson, Matta, Breton, Dominguez, Lam, Tanguy and many other artists who had fled Europe from Nazi persecution. Marcel Jean described the event: ‘The show was to be held in the living-rooms of the Reid Mansion […]. Marcel Duchamp was entrusted with their preparation, and proceeded to mask the antiquated decorations with an immense “spider’s web” made of miles of white twine stretched across the rooms [fig. 1]’ (M. Jean, The History of Surrealist Painting, New York, 1960, p. 312). Ernst annotated the painting with the details of the exhibition, incorporating the dates, times and entrance fees within the image.

 

The innovative techniques of representation Ernst used in the present work and in other paintings executed during his brief stay in New York (1941-42) – such as the seminal canvases Surrealism and Painting (fig. 2), Vox Angelica and The Bewildered Planet (fig. 3) – greatly influenced the next generation of American artists. They were attracted by the Surrealists’ attempts to apply Freud’s theories in the writing of automatic texts, the creation of automatic drawings, and the analysis of their dreams. It was in his New York pictures, including the present work, that Ernst introduced the ‘drip’ technique that would be employed later by American artists. Ernst described this new technique as follows: ‘It is children’s game. Attach an empty tin can to a thread a metre or two long, punch a small hole in the bottom, fill the can with paint, liquid enough to flow freely. Let the can swing from the end of the thread over a piece of canvas resting on a flat surface, then change the direction of the can by movements of the hands, arms, shoulders and entire body. Surprising lines thus drip on the canvas. The play of association then begins’ (quoted in Max Ernst (exhibition catalogue), Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, 1959, n.p.).

 

The composition of the present work is closely related to another canvas of the same date, The Bewildered Planet (fig. 3), in the words of Werner Spies: ‘a diptych that marks a distinct break with the technique of [his decalcomania] paintings and the introduction of a new procedure. Here the focus is on gravitation and its disorganization. The path of the planet is inscribed on the right side of the picture, like a network of clearly drawn condensation trails, against an inflamed, suppurating sky. The left side shows a more controlled, peaceful blue sky. The menacing sky is clearly a commentary on recent world events' (W. Spies, in Max Ernst: A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), op. cit., p. 15). In the present work, the random, curving lines formed by dripped paint are superimposed on a flat, highly coloured and complex ground. Barely identifiable, animal-like figures populate this mysterious landscape, and their carefully outlined forms contrast with the images created by spraying paint over stencils. The freedom allowed by the different techniques employed by the artist lends this composition a quality of openness and approachability, whilst the abstracted images and forms depicted heighten the sense of enigma.

 

Writing about the group of paintings Ernst executed in New York in 1941-42, Diane Waldman commented: ‘Although these paintings were exhibited in late 1942 and were said to have been admired by Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, the connection between Ernst’s methods and the later drip technique of Pollock was probably not this direct. However, there is no doubt that the Surrealists’ stress upon automatism was an important factor in the development of Abstract Expressionism. The technique employed in these works of 1942 is the logical extension of Ernst’s interests, if we consider that, as early as 1927, he was employing a similar method in such work as Vision Induced by a String Found on My Table […]. The Dada and the Surrealist emphasis upon chance remains intact in Ernst’s work of this period; what has changed between 1927 and 1942 is his imagery’ (Max Ernst: A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1975, p. 54).