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ERNST Max

image Germany
1891 - 1976
20 lots
image ERNST Max

Max Ernst (1891–1976) was a German-born artist and one of the most influential figures in Surrealism and Dada. Born in Brühl, Germany, he studied philosophy and psychology before turning to art, experiences that later shaped his fascination with dreams, the unconscious, and irrational imagery. After serving in World War I, Ernst became a founding member of the Cologne Dada group. In the 1920s, he moved to Paris and joined the Surrealists, developing innovative techniques such as frottage (rubbing textures onto paper), grattage (scraping paint), and decalcomania. These methods allowed chance and subconscious processes to guide his work, producing strange, dreamlike landscapes and hybrid creatures. Ernst’s art often combines precise detail with fantastical elements, challenging traditional perceptions of reality. His recurring motifs include birds, forests, and mysterious figures, reflecting his personal symbolism. With the outbreak of World War II, Ernst emigrated to the United States, where he influenced the emerging Abstract Expressionist movement. He later returned to Europe, settling in France. Over his long career, he worked in painting, sculpture, collage, and printmaking. Today, Max Ernst is celebrated as a pioneer who expanded the boundaries of artistic imagination and experimental technique.

image Sun over the desert
Sun over the desert
UncategorizedOil1925
Sold For
£863,600
March 2026MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Sun over the desert | signed 'Max Ernst' (lower right)| oil and ink and paper collage on canvas| 25 5⁄8 x 21 ¼ in. (65 x 54 cm.)| Painted in 1925|
image sodaliten schneeberger drückethäler (l’énigme de l’Europe Centrale or always the best man wins)
sodaliten schneeberger drückethäler (l’énigme de l’Europe Centrale or always the best man wins)
Uncategorized1920
Sold For
£781,200
March 2025MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| sodaliten schneeberger drückethäler (l’énigme de l’Europe Centrale or always the best man wins) | signed and dated ‘max ernst / 1920’ (lower right); inscribed ‘always the best man wins / sodaliten schneeberger drückethäler rosinen und mandeln schlagen die eingeborenen mitteleuropas' (along the upper edge of the artist's mount) and inscribed 'zu meerschaum und eilen nach stattgehabter denudation den ereignissen in bester absicht voraus' (along the lower edge of the artist's mount)| gouache, pen and India ink and pencil on a cut out print laid down on the artist's mount| Image: 5 5⁄8 x 8 ½ in. (14.2 x 21.5 cm.)|Artist's mount: 8 3⁄8 x 10 ½ in. (21.4 x 26.7 cm.)| Executed in 1920|
image Le tilleul et le châtaignier
Le tilleul et le châtaignier
Painting1925
Sold For
$201,600
November 2024MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Le tilleul et le châtaignier | signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| watercolor, frottage and pencil on paper laid down on card| 10 ¼ x 16 7⁄8 in. (42.8 x 26.1 cm.)| Executed in 1925|
image Le Châle à fleurs de givre (Histoire Naturelle, Blatt 4)
Le Châle à fleurs de givre (Histoire Naturelle, Blatt 4)
Uncategorized1925
Sold For
€0
June 2024Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Le Châle à fleurs de givre (Histoire Naturelle, Blatt 4) | signé à l'envers 'max ernst' (en haut à gauche)| frottage et graphite sur papiers joints| 40.5 x 26.2 cm. |Réalisé en 1925.| |signed upside down 'max ernst' (upper left)| frottage and pencil on joined papers|16 x 10 ¼ in. |Executed in 1925.|
image Eclairs précoces
Eclairs précoces
Painting1925
Sold For
€25,600
March 2024MAX ERNST (1891-1976) | Eclairs précoces | |signé 'Max Ernst' (en bas à droite), titré et daté '1925 Eclairs précoces' (en bas à gauche)|frottage et crayon sur papier|Exécuté en 1925|signed 'Max Ernst' (lower right), titled and dated '1925 Eclairs précoces' (lower left)|frottage and pencil on paper|Executed on 1925|20.9 x 16.2 cm. |8 1/4 x 6 3/8 in.
image démonstration hydrométrique à tuer par la température
démonstration hydrométrique à tuer par la température
Painting1920
Sold For
£201,600
March 2024MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| démonstration hydrométrique à tuer par la température | signed and inscribed 'démonstration hydrométrique à tuer par la température / max ernst' (along the lower edge of the artist's mount)| paper collage, gouache, pen and India ink and pencil on paper laid on the artist's mount| Image: 9 3⁄8 x 6 ¾ in. (24 x 17 cm.)| Artist’s mount: 11 ¾ x 8 ¾ in. (29.5 x 22.2 cm.)| Executed in 1920|
image Ohne Titel
Ohne Titel
PaintingOil1925
Sold For
€126,000
October 2023Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Ohne Titel| signé 'max ernst' (en bas à droite)| huile et grattage sur carton| 27.2 x 22 cm.| Peint en 1925| | signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil and grattage on board| 10 ¾ x 8 ¾ in.| Painted in 1925|
image Les Deux Oiseaux
Les Deux Oiseaux
PaintingOil1925
Sold For
€226,800
April 2023Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Les Deux Oiseaux| signé 'max ernst' (en bas à droite)| huile et gesso sur papier de verre marouflé sur panneau; dans le cadre d'artiste en liège| Panneau: 26 x 20.5 cm.| Cadre d'artiste: 35.6 x 29.8 cm.| Exécuté vers 1925| | signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil and gesso on sandpaper laid down on panel; in the artist’s cork frame| Panel: 10 1/4 x 8 1/8 in.| Artist’s frame: 14 x 11 3/4 in.| Executed circa 1925|
image Le soleil noir or Tremblement de terre
Le soleil noir or Tremblement de terre
PaintingOil1925
Sold For
£458,500
February 2015Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Le soleil noir or Tremblement de terre | signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil and grattage on card laid down on canvas| 17 7/8 x 23 1/2 in. (45.5 x 59.5 cm.)| Painted in 1925|
image Couple oiseaux (Les Diamants conjugaux)
Couple oiseaux (Les Diamants conjugaux)
PaintingOil1925
Sold For
£389,000
February 2015Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) | Couple oiseaux (Les Diamants conjugaux) | oil on board | 49.2 by 34.5cm. | 19 3/8 by 13 5/8 in. | 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).
image Configuration
Configuration
PaintingOil1974
Sold For
£74,500
June 2014Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) | Configuration | oil on panel | 33.4 by 41.2cm., 13⅛ by 16⅛in. | Condition: The panel is sound and there do not appear to be any signs of retouching visible under UV light. There is some very minor surface dirt in a few places and a very small spot of frame rubbing at the centre of the left edge from previous framing. This work is in overall very good 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."
image Moon II
Moon II
PaintingOil1944
Sold For
£338,500
June 2014Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) | Moon II | oil on canvas | 66 by 80cm. | 26 by 31 1/2 in. | Moon II belongs to a series of nocturnal landscapes that Ernst executed in 1944, inspired by his stay in Arizona the previous summer. The fantastic quality and the opulence of colour he witnessed in the mountains and deserts of the American West made a strong impression on the artist, and are beautifully rendered in the present work in a richly layered composition and a kaleidoscopic colouration. Whilst Ernst executed a number of paintings showing the landscape bathed in bright sunshine (fig. 1), it was in his nocturnal pictures, such as Moon II, that he managed to capture the sublime magic of his surroundings. Ernst and Dorothea Tanning spent the summer of 1943 in Arizona, and Werner Spies described the ranch where they stayed as 'a marvellous spot on the bank of a creek that, fed by the glaciers of the San Francisco Mountains, came rushing down through a canyon (a kind of replica of the Grand Canyon on a human scale) to lose itself in the burning deserts to the south. The first fascinating thing about the place was its abundance of colour [...]. Then there were the rock formations, which resembled a great variety of things' (W. Spies, Max Ernst, A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Tate Gallery, London, 1991, p. 323). Discussing Ernst's works inspired by these surroundings, John Russell wrote: 'Arizona offered isolation, a celestial climate, a way of life that was both economical and free from suburban constraints. It offered the inspiration of supreme, natural beauty [...] Few things are more stirring than the fantastic forms and the irrational colouring of the mountains around Sedona. In the mid-1940s life and landscape in that region had an uncorrupted quality which made of Arizona a Promised Land in which a new life could be begun and an old one discarded [...] and although Max Ernst had never been a landscape painter, in the ordinary sense, it was deeply moving for him to come upon a landscape which had precisely the visionary quality that he had sought for on canvas' (J. Russell, Max Ernst: Life and Work, New York, 1967, p. 140).
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