馬克斯·恩斯特

Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris

Acquired from the above

Paris, Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Max Ernst: Cap Capricorne, 1964, no. 7, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Werner Spies, Günter & Sigrid Metken, Max Ernst, Oeuvre -Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Houston, 1998,  no. 3689, illustrated p. 331

Excellent condition. Original canvas. The artist’s complex textures, which involve applications of paint with brush and knife in different areas, appear to be in excellent condition. The paint layer is stable and under UV light, there are no apparent retouches. One can see pentiments of the lower form against the brown shape in the lower center, but this is original and intended.
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 demonstrates the technique of grattage that Ernst had created during the early days of the Surrealist movement. Grattage was first developed by Ernst in the mid-1920s as a painterly response to the Surrealist concept of automatism. Grattage is the oil paint 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. Attracted by the open structure of the grain, he rubbed it, using paper and pencil, and then reinterpreted the results. 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. The characteristics of these objects got lost in the process. Unrefined textures turned into more precise shapes. The grain of wood became the tossing surface of the sea, the scaly pattern of the weave of a straw hat became a cypress tree, the texture of twine became another kind of grain even a horse... These works are sensual and tactile, with images of rubbed objects that appear as ghostly traces of form" (W. Spies, 'Nightmare and Deliverence' in Max Ernst: A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), New York, 2005, pp. 12-13).