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ERNST Max

image Germany
1891 - 1976
16 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 Sans titre (L'oiseau qui s'assoit et ne chante pas)
Sans titre (L'oiseau qui s'assoit et ne chante pas)
UncategorizedOil1926
Sold For
$630,000
November 2024MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Sans titre (L'oiseau qui s'assoit et ne chante pas) | signed twice 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil, sand and grattage on canvas| 26 5⁄8 x 21 ¼ in. (68.3 x 54 cm.)| Painted in 1926|
image La Horde
La Horde
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
€0
September 2024Max Ernst (1891-1976)| La Horde| signé ‘max ernst’ (en bas à gauche)| huile sur toile| 46.5 x 38.8 cm.| Peint en 1927|signed 'max ernst' (lower left)|oil on canvas| 18 3⁄8 x 15 ¼ in. |Painted in 1927|
image Paysage avec lac et chimères
Paysage avec lac et chimères
PaintingOil1940
Sold For
$2,460,000
November 2022MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Paysage avec lac et chimères | signed ‘Max Ernst’ (lower right)| oil on canvas| 20 x 26 in. (50.8 x 66 cm.)| Painted circa 1940|
image Forêt
Forêt
Uncategorized1927
Sold For
€653,800
October 2021Max Ernst|Forêt|1891 - 1976|signed max ernst (lower right)|gouache on paper|50,1 x 64,5 cm; 19¾ x 25⅜ in.|Executed in 1927.|_____________________________________________________________|signé max ernst (en bas à droite)|gouache sur papier|Exécuté en 1927.
image Jeune homme traversant une rivière prenant par la main une jeune fille et en bousculant une autre
Jeune homme traversant une rivière prenant par la main une jeune fille et en bousculant une autre
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£539,250
February 2020Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Jeune homme traversant une rivière prenant par la main une jeune fille et en bousculant une autre| signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil on canvas| 18 7/8 x 15 1/8 in. (47.8 x 38.3 cm.)| Painted in 1927|
image La mariée du vent
La mariée du vent
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£662,500
February 2016Max Ernst (1891-1976)| La mariée du vent | signed 'max ernst' lower right| oil on canvas| 28¾ x 36¼ in. (73 x 92 cm.)| Painted in 1927|
image Fleur en oiseau embryonnaire
Fleur en oiseau embryonnaire
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£75,000
February 2015Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) | Fleur en oiseau embryonnaire | oil on canvas | 35 by 27cm., 13 3/4 by 10 5/8 in. | Condition: The canvas is not lined. There is a thin layer of varnish preventing the UV light from fully penetrating. However, UV examination reveals a tiny spot of retouching to the black element directly above the central figure's beak. There is a very fine line of fluorescence which could relate to possible retouching on the extreme lower edge and to the lower half of the right edge. There is an area of wax to the reverse. There are some very fine lines of stable craquelure to the black pigment towards the lower centre of the upper half. This work is in overall 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 Trois jeunes filles en de belles poses
Trois jeunes filles en de belles poses
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£194,500
February 2015Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Trois jeunes filles en de belles poses | signed 'max ernst' (lower right)| oil on canvas| 16 1/8 x 13 in. (41 x 33 cm.)| Painted in 1927|
image Forêt
Forêt
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
$386,500
November 2011Max Ernst (1891 - 1976) | Forêt | Oil on paper laid down on canvas | 10 3/4 by 14 3/4 in. | 27.3 by 37.3 cm | Painted in 1927, Forêt belongs to one of the most creative and groundbreaking periods in Max Ernst's oeuvre, marked by a constant stream of technical experimentation and invention. It was at this time also that the artist established his personal mythology, his visual universe of themes and images that were to become central to his entire career. Throughout 1927, Ernst's work was dominated by images of the natural world, such as forests, birds and seashells, and it was in the series of Forêt paintings of the 1920s that Ernst for the first time fully explored his newly developed grattage technique. His experimentations with ways of applying pigment onto the surface resulted in the discovery of frottage in 1925. Fascinated by the rich texture of wooden floorboards, he would place sheets of paper onto their surface and rub over them with graphite, thus arriving at fantastic, unexpected compositions. In the present work the glowing colours of the setting sun penetrate powerfully through the dense forest. Alexander Iolas, the noted collector and dealer of Surrealist art, was an early owner of the present work. Iolas championed artists as varied as Matta, Victor Brauner, Joseph Cornell, Niki de Saint-Phalle and, in particular, Max Ernst and René Magritte before they came to international prominence. After an early and successful career as a pianist and ballet-dancer, Iolas opened galleries in New York and Paris in the 1940s. His foresight into the intrinsic quality of an artist's work was invaluable to the development of Surrealist art.
image Monument aux oiseaux
Monument aux oiseaux
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£157,250
June 2010Max Ernst (1891-1976) | Monument aux oiseaux | signed 'max ernst' (lower right) | oil on paper laid down on board | 8 5/8 x 10 5/8 in. (22 x 27 cm.) | Painted in 1927 |
image
PaintingOil1927
Sold For
£1,105,250
June 2010PROPERTY OF A NOBLEMAN MAX ERNST 1891 - 1976 FORÊT ET SOLEIL OR COUCHER DE SOLEIL signed Max Ernst (upper right) oil on canvas 73 by 92cm. 28 3/4 by 36 1/4 in. Painted in 1927, Forêt et soleil belongs
image GULFSTREAM
GULFSTREAM
PaintingOil1926
Sold For
£174,500
February 2008Max Ernst (1891-1976) | GULFSTREAM | oil on canvasboard | 55 by 46cm., 21 5/8 by 18 1/8 in. | The present work is part of the La Mer series that Ernst executed around the mid-1920s. During the summer of 1925 Ernst worked by the sea at Pornic in Brittany, and it was probably during this trip that inspired the sea imagery. This was a particularly eventful year for the artist: he signed his first commercial contract, which provided him the financial freedom to devote his time entirely to painting and experimentation; he participated in the first Surrealist group exhibition at the Galerie Pierre, and he developed the frottage technique, one of the most consequential inventions of career. Frottage consisted of placing paper over objects such as leaves or uneven surfaces, particularly those with wood graining, and rubbing the sheet over those forms and textures. This technique resulted in fantastical images that ignited the artist's imagination, and involved the element of chance, the key concept in Surrealist thought. This scraping technique reveals the image rather than painting it onto canvas, resulting in random, chance imagery. In this way, Max Ernst was the first to invent a way of applying automatism, previously practiced by the Surrealists in a literary medium, to painting.Adapting this practice to the medium of oil painting, Ernst would cover the canvas with layers of paint and place it over an uneven surface or an object. He would then scrape the pigment off the surface, and complex patterns would emerge. In the present work, he probably incised the wet oil surface with a comb, creating elegant, undulating lines that evoke the effect of currents and waves on the water surface. Discussing this grattage technique, Werner Spies wrote: 'Max Ernst laid his canvas over various objects with raised textures - pieces of wood and string, grates, textured glass panes - and, drawing the paint over them with a palette knife, brought forth the most vivid effects. In the course of the following years - years which William Rubin has called the 'heroic epoch of Surrealist painting' - this technique, known as grattage, led to astonishingly innovative imagery. The pictures became more abstract in effect, their formats larger. The dramatic force of these paintings, the richness of their scintillating colour, made them high points of imaginative Surrealist art in the late 1920s' (W. Spies, Max Ernst. A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Tate Gallery, London, 1991, p. 148).
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