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ERNST Max

image Germany
1891 - 1976
17 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 Paysage immobile
Paysage immobile
UncategorizedOil1957
Sold For
£95,250
March 2026MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Paysage immobile | signed 'max ernst' (lower right); signed and inscribed 'paysage immobil max ernst' (on the reverse)| oil, frottage and décalcomanie on panel| 11 ¾ x 11 ¾ in. (30 x 30 cm.)| Painted circa 1957|
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 Untitled (Person with two birds)
Untitled (Person with two birds)
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
£264,600
March 2024MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Untitled (Person with two birds) | signed and dated 'max ernst 57' (lower right); signed again ‘max ernst’ (on the reverse)| oil on canvas| 31 ¾ x 25 ½ in. (80.6 x 64.7 cm.)| Painted in 1957|
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 A Very Quiet Evening
A Very Quiet Evening
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
€0
March 2022Max Ernst (1891-1976)| A Very Quiet Evening| signé 'max ernst' (en bas à droite); signé et inscrit 'A very quiet evening max ernst' (au revers)| huile et décalcomanie sur toile| 28.1 x 35.8 cm.| Exécuté vers 1957| | signed 'max ernst' (lower right); signed and inscribed 'A very quiet evening max ernst' (on the reverse)| oil and decalcomanie on canvas| 11 1⁄8 x 14 1⁄8 in.| Executed circa 1957|
image Tomorrow
Tomorrow
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
€0
March 2022Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Tomorrow| signé 'max ernst' (en bas à droite); signé, daté et inscrit 'tomorrow max ernst 57' (au revers)| huile et grattage sur toile| 35.8 x 28 cm.| Exécuté en 1957| | signed 'max ernst' (lower right); signed, dated and inscribed 'tomorrow max ernst 57' (on the reverse)| oil and grattage on canvas| 14 1⁄8 x 11 1⁄8 in.| Executed in 1957|
image Coquillage
Coquillage
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
$75,000
November 2021MAX ERNST (1891-1976)| Coquillage | signed ‘max ernst’ (lower right); signed again ‘max ernst’ (on the reverse)| oil on canvas| 7 ½ x 10 5/8 in. (19 x 27 cm.)| Painted circa 1957|
image Mer et soleil
Mer et soleil
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
£35,000
February 2020Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Mer et soleil| signed ‘max ernst’ (lower right)| oil on paper laid down on board| 6 ¾ x 14 ¼ in. (17.2 x 36.3 cm.)| Painted circa 1957|
image Tâches de soleil
Tâches de soleil
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
£175,000
February 2020Max Ernst (1891-1976)| Tâches de soleil| signed and indistinctly dated ‘max ernst 57’ (lower right); signed, inscribed and dated 'taches de soleil 57 max ernst' (on the reverse)| oil on canvas| 18 ¼ x 15 1/8 in. (46.2 x 38.3 cm.)| Painted in 1957|
image
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
£109,250
February 2010Max Ernst (1891-1976) Regarde signed ´max ernst´ (lower right); signed again, dated and titled ´regarde max ernst 1957´ (on the reverse) oil on board 13 x 9½ in. (33 x 24 cm.) Painted in 1957
image
PaintingOil1957
Sold For
£109,250
February 2010Max Ernst (1891-1976) Regarde signed ´max ernst´ (lower right); signed again, dated and titled ´regarde max ernst 1957´ (on the reverse) oil on board 13 x 9½ in. (33 x 24 cm.) Painted in 1957
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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