- 80
Max Ernst
Description
- Max Ernst
- Le mardi la lune s'endimanche
- signed Max Ernst (lower right); signed Max Ernst, dated 1964 and titled on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 72.7 by 59.7cm.
- 28 5/8 by 23 1/2 in.
Provenance
Henri-Georges Doll, New York (acquired from the above in 1965. Sold: Christie’s, New York, 12th May 1992, lot 145)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited
New York, The Jewish Museum, Max Ernst. Sculpture and Recent Painting, 1966, no. 57, illustrated in the catalogue
Literature
Edward Quinn, Max Ernst, Paris, 1976, no. 428, illustrated p. 344
Werner Spies, Sigrid & Günther Metken, Max Ernst Œuvre-Katalog, Werke 1964-1969, Cologne, 2007, no. 3844, illustrated p. 9
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."
Catalogue Note
In his paintings of the period (fig. 1), the complex shapes and patterns that he developed for these illustrations were combined with the orbs that were a recurring motif in his earliest works. Werner Spies discussed the importance of this continuity, writing: ‘Ernst remained true to his early decision to strive for a symbolic painting in which open questions, and hence the unfathomable obscurity of existence, took precedence over simplistic positivist explanations and definitive stylistic results’ (W. Spies, Max Ernst. A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Tate, London, 1991, p. 252).
In Le mardi la lune s'endimanche the resulting stylistic duality of composition and disintegration is rendered particularly vividly through Ernst’s use of grattage. This technique, developed in the mid-1920s was a painterly version of frottage, the technique Ernst first employed in pencil and paper: ‘One rainy day in 1925 Ernst was first inspired to explore the possibilities of frottage by the look of the grooves in the well-scrubbed floor of his hotel room at the seashore in Pornic… As he developed the procedure, he used a variety of new elements to start with - stale bread crumbs, grained leather, striated glassware, a straw hat, twine - always transforming the results so that whatever lay beneath his paper experienced a metamorphosis… These works are sensual and tactile, with images of rubbed objects that appear as ghostly traces of form’ (W. Spies, op. cit., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005, pp. 12-13).