MAX ERNST | Remous

Galerie Daniel Malingue, Paris (acquired by 1982)
Private Collection, Monaco
Sale: Guy Loudmer, Paris, June 21, 1993, lot 32
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Brühl, Max Ernst Museum, Schausammlung im Wechsel, 2006, n.n.
Sète, Musée Paul Valéry, Max Ernst-Yves Tanguy: Deux visions du surréalisme, 2016, n.n., illustrated in color in the catalogue

Sarane Alexandrian, Max Ernst, Paris, 1986, illustrated in color p. 119

The work is in very good condition. The canvas is not lined. There is some minor pigment shrinkage in the blue pigments along the upper edge. There is some minor frame abrasion and associated pindot losses along all four edges. Under UV inspection, a few original pigment fluoresce but no inpainting is apparent.
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.

The present work is part of the La Mer series which Ernst painted around 1925 in the seaside town of Pornic in Brittany, which inspired the marine aesthetic of the series. It was here that Ernst developed his technique of frottage, one of the most consequential inventions of his career. As Werner Spies explained, “Max Ernst himself, in his essay ‘Au-delà de la peinture,’ has traced the origin of the frottage technique to a definite time and place. It was the well-worn floorboards of a small hotel in Pornic on the Atlantic coast of France, where he was staying in 1925, that provided him with a basic pattern richly textured and lending itself to further development. He laid sheets of paper over the floorboards and rubbed them with a soft black pencil, so that the underlying pattern showed through. Thanks to the combination of the most varied textures with distinct relief effects, he enriched this fund of forms and worked them up into well-defined drawings. In addition to boards, the elements employed include straw-plaiting, stale bread, twine, cherry stems, leaves and bark” (Werner Spies, Max Ernst Frottagen, Stuttgart, 1968, n.p.; translated from German). This technique resulted in fantastical images through what Ernst called his “voyages of discovery,” and incorporated elements of chance and automatism, key concepts in Surrealist thought. In the subsequent years, Ernst would expand his frottage technique into the use of oil paint, which would come to visually define his oeuvre in works such as Forêt et colombe (see fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Max Ernst, Forêt et colombe, 1927, oil on canvas, Tate Modern, London

Dr. Jürgen Pech has confirmed the authenticity of this work.