Art as Jewelry as Art
Art as Jewelry as Art
View full screen - View 1 of Lot 98. Soleil (Sun) — 1460.

Property from an Important Private Collection

Max Ernst

Soleil (Sun) — 1460

Lot Closed

October 6, 05:37 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Property from an Important Private Collection

Max Ernst

1891 - 1976

Soleil (Sun) — 1460


conceived 1959, this example cast after 1988*, signed, stamped with Atelier Hugo reference number 2254 / 1460, edition 2/2, exemplaire d'artiste (artist's proof); stamped with François Hugo goldsmith's mark and assay mark on reverse at bottom

23k gold pendant in original wooden case, labeled by hand: Or 23 carats. 923 millièmes_ Poids 92.5g. Exemplaire

No. E.A. 2/2; Poinçon 1es titre du Bureau de la Garantie de Marseille Pièce No. 2254/1450 portant la signature de Max

Ernst, et le Poinçon de Maître de François Hugo. Fait dans ses atelier d'Aix en Provence en 1979.

4¼ by 4⅜ in.; 10.7 by 11.2 cm.

± 91.32 g.

Acquired by descent from the artist to the present owner

Graham Hughes, Modern Jewelry: An International Survey: 1890-1963, Studio Books, London, 1963, pp. 202-203

Clare Siaud and Pierre Hugo, Bijoux d'artistes, Artist's Jewels, Hommage à François Hugo, Les Cyprès, Aix-en-Provence, 2001, p. 100 for another example

Similar edition exhibited in London, Victoria & Albert Museum, International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery 1890-1961, 1961

This arresting little pendant, named by Ernst Soleil (Sun), can be interpreted as loosely as the name suggests. Ernst, who created the techniques of frottage (rubbing) and grattage (scratching) for his Plastiline works to add abstract texture, designed this piece with deep ridges like the raysmof the sun, though they could easily be interpreted as hair. His primitive-seeming goldwork aligns with the Abstract Expressionist movement that he helped to head, but also the avant-garde artworks being created by his peers that looked to differently-developed cultures for inspiration.