Max Ernst

Estate of the artist
Jeffrey Loria Fine Arts, New York
Acquired from the above in October 2004

John Russell, Max Ernst, Life and Work, New York, 1967, no. 140, illustration of the smaller version n.p.
Werner Spies & Sigrid & Gunter Metken, Max Ernst Oeuvre-Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Cologne, 1998, no. 3818, illustrations of other casts pp. 404-05
Max Ernst, Sculptures, maisons, paysages (exhibition catalogue), Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris & Kunstsammlung Nordrhiein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 1998, no. 129, illustration of another cast p. 207
Max Ernst Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2013, no. 179, illustration in color of another cast

The work is in excellent condition. Features a dark brownish black patina. The patina is well preserved with a couple scattered minor scratches consistent with age and a few very minor spots of verdigris within the crease of the upper back. There is light damage to the surface patina on top of the sculpture's base which does not affect the work itself.
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.
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.

“When I come to a dead end in my paintings, which repeatedly happens, sculpture provides me with a way out. Because sculpture is even more like playing a game than painting is. In sculpture, both hands play a role, just as they do in love. It’s as though I were taking a vacation, to return to painting afterwards, refreshed” (Max Ernst quoted in Max Ernst Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), op. cit., p. 295).

Beginning with his Dada period in Cologne, Ernst’s fascination with sculpture provided him with a physical three-dimensional outlet for his imagination and creativity. In 1935, he spent a summer in Switzerland working alongside Alberto Giacometti, sculpting and painting granite blocks. He continued to sculpt during his exile in the United States where he returned to his early experimentation in casting. On his return to Europe, he found the post-war Parisian art scene much changed. After winning the grand prize for painting in the 1954 Venice Biennale, he was driven out of the Surrealist movement by André Breton, who distrusted Ernst’s new-found fame. Perhaps as a result, in 1955 Ernst and his wife Dorothea Tanning purchased a farmhouse in the provincial town of Huismes, where he produced some of his most peaceful and harmonious works to date. As stated by Ernst himself, “The sculpture originates in an embrace, two-handed, like love itself. It is the most simple, the most primeval art” (quoted in ibid., p. 295).

The present work is one of twelve casts of this subject, including two lifetime nominative casts, two lifetime casts numbered 0/IV and I/IV and eight posthumous casts numbered 1/8 through 8/8. Other casts can be found at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek; the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachaus, Munich; the Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny & the Botero Museum, Bogota.