- 456
Max Ernst
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
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Description
- Max Ernst
- Composition
- signed Max Ernst and dated 1917 (lower left)
- watercolour and gouache on paper
- 14.5 by 22cm., 5 3/4 by 8 3/4 in.
signed Max Ernst and dated 1917 (lower left)
watercolour on paper
14.6 by 22cm.
Painted in 1917.
watercolour on paper
14.6 by 22cm.
Painted in 1917.
Provenance
Sale: Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, (Roman Norbert Ketterer), 24-25th November 1949, lot 57
Oscar Stern, Stockholm
Private Collection, Paris (sale: Sotheby's, London, 16th April 1970, lot 72)
Private Collection, United Kingdom (purchased at the above sale)
Oscar Stern, Stockholm
Private Collection, Paris (sale: Sotheby's, London, 16th April 1970, lot 72)
Private Collection, United Kingdom (purchased at the above sale)
Exhibited
Paris, Galerie L'Oeil, Max Ernst, 1969, illustrated in the catalogue
Literature
Werner Spies, Sigrid & Günter Metken, Max Ernst, Werke 1906-1925, Cologne, 1975, vol. 1, no. 271, illustrated p. 137
Condition
Executed on cream wove paper, attached to the mount at all four corners, floating in the mount. Apart from a few minor abrasions to the corners, mainly to the upper and lower right corners, this work is in overall very good condition.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
The turmoil of the war seemed to be a trigger for Ernst's creative imagination. Camfield notes that it was precisely these years in which Ernst produced 'the most striking paintings of his career'. He explains that these works 'were brilliantly coloured paintings, dominated by red/green and yellow/blue polarities. They are set in underwater realms with plants and fish. Colours compete against... defined froms and abstract, amorphous shapes, between quasi-organic and quasi-geometric forms, which may be perceived as fish turning into machines or machines into fish'. (Willam A. Camfield, Max Ernst, Dada and the dawn of Surrealism, Munich, 1993, p. 44).