Max Ernst

Hans Richter, New York (a gift from the artist)

Private Collection (by descent from the above. Sold: Christie's, New York, 12th May 1988, lot 334)

Private Collection, London

Private Collection, Paris

Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 7th November 2007, lot 54

Purchased at the above sale

New York, Dactyl Foundation, Dialogues, 2008, no. 9, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Werner Spies, Max Ernst, Œuvre-Katalog, Werke 1939-1953, Cologne, 1987, no. 2458, illustrated p. 82 (titled Ohne Titel and with incorrect measurements)

The canvas is unlined. There is no evidence of retouching visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from a very fine scratch in the lower left corner, with associated loss to the framing edge, and a small abrasion on the right framing edge, this work is in good original condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although the greens are more apparent and the overall tone is slightly brighter 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."

Moon II belongs to a series of nocturnal landscapes that Ernst executed in 1944, inspired by his stay in Arizona the previous summer. The fantastic quality and the opulence of colour he witnessed in the mountains and deserts of the American West made a strong impression on the artist, and are beautifully rendered in the present work in a richly layered composition and a kaleidoscopic colouration. Whilst Ernst executed a number of paintings showing the landscape bathed in bright sunshine (fig. 1), it was in his nocturnal pictures, such as Moon II, that he managed to capture the sublime magic of his surroundings.

Ernst and Dorothea Tanning spent the summer of 1943 in Arizona, and Werner Spies described the ranch where they stayed as 'a marvellous spot on the bank of a creek that, fed by the glaciers of the San Francisco Mountains, came rushing down through a canyon (a kind of replica of the Grand Canyon on a human scale) to lose itself in the burning deserts to the south.  The first fascinating thing about the place was its abundance of colour [...]. Then there were the rock formations, which resembled a great variety of things' (W. Spies, Max Ernst, A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Tate Gallery, London, 1991, p. 323).

Discussing Ernst's works inspired by these surroundings, John Russell wrote: 'Arizona offered isolation, a celestial climate, a way of life that was both economical and free from suburban constraints. It offered the inspiration of supreme, natural beauty [...] Few things are more stirring than the fantastic forms and the irrational colouring of the mountains around Sedona. In the mid-1940s life and landscape in that region had an uncorrupted quality which made of Arizona a Promised Land in which a new life could be begun and an old one discarded [...] and although Max Ernst had never been a landscape painter, in the ordinary sense, it was deeply moving for him to come upon a landscape which had precisely the visionary quality that he had sought for on canvas' (J. Russell, Max Ernst: Life and Work, New York, 1967, p. 140).