Max Ernst

Private Collection, Geneva (sold: Sotheby's, London, 2nd December 1981, lot 62)

Private Collection (purchased at the above sale)

Galerie La Pochade, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owner on 27th May 1985

Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire & Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Regard sur Minotaure, 1987-88, no. 130, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Milan, Palazzo Reale, I surrealisti, 1989, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle, Die Surrealisten, 1989, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Saint-Louis, Espace d'Art Contemporain Fernet-Branca, Chassé-croisé Dada-Surréaliste 1916-1969, 2012, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

 

José Pierre, L'Aventure surréaliste autour d'André Breton, Paris, 1986, illustrated in colour p. 59

Georges Sebbag, Memorabilia: constellations inaperçues: Dada & Surréalisme 1916-1970, Paris, 2010, illustrated in colour p. 251

The board is stable and laid down on panel. There is no evidence of retouching under ultra-violet light. Apart from some very minor wear to the extreme edges of the board, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although stronger and more vibrant in the original, particularly the green and turquoise tones of the background.
"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."

Painted in the most innovative period of Ernst's career, this work shows the development of his technical experimentation, as well as of the subject matter which was to dominate his œuvre. The surface of the work, with its rich impasto, has lunar quality; the areas of built-up white paint casting faint shadows and enriching the composition. Max Ernst’s Couple oiseaux belongs to a series of important works from the mid-1920s in which birds featured as the central motifs. The subject evidently fascinated Ernst who continually used birds in his work from the 1920s onwards. In 1925 he executed a number of paintings on the subject of the ‘Bird Marriage’, which show silhouetted pairs of doves such as can be found in the present work and the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart’s Vogelhochzeit (fig. 1). Diane Waldman writes: 'The bird theme, in which Ernst identifies himself with a bird, re-emerges from time to time throughout his career. This fascination is a recapitulation of Ernst's childhood memories and also appears to be a reference to Leonardo, whose fixation with a vulture was documented by Freud in his essay, Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci, 1910. The bird stands for the flight and the fantastic and, of course, the intellect' (D. Waldman in Max Ernst (exhibition catalogue), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1975, pp. 40 & 41). 

The bird recurred in various guises as Hornebom, Dadamax or Loplop. These creatures became part of Ernst’s personal mythology and his Surrealist friends began to identify the important connection between the artist and his emblematic attachment to avian creatures. In 1926 Paul Eluard wrote a poem entitled Max Ernst, which contains the following lines: 'Devoured by feathers and left to the sea / He has let his shadow pass into flight / Of the birds of freedom...' (quoted in Werner Spies, Max Ernst, Loplop, London, 1983, p. 10).