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Artist or Maker: Max Ernst (1891-1976)
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Provenance: Aram D. Mouradian, Paris.
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's London, 30 March 1966, lot 89.
Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris.
Acquired from the above by the the family of the present owner by 1967.
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Exhibited: Paris, Galerie Georges Bernheim, Max Ernst. Ses oiseaux, ses fleurs nouvelles, ses forêts volantes, ses malédictions, ses satanas, December 1928, no. 23bis (illustrated).
Berlin, Galerie Flechtheim, Max Ernst, March - April 1929, no. 40 (illustrated p. 8); this exhibition later travelled to Dusseldorf, Galerie Flechtheim in May 1929.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Max Ernst: Retrospektive 1979, February - April 1979, no. 179 (illustrated p. 282); this exhibition later travelled to Berlin, Nationalgalerie.
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Literature: Das Kunstwerk, Baden-Baden, vol. 10/4, 1956/57, p. 13 (illustrated).
M. Jean, Histoire de la peinture surréaliste, Paris, p. 128 (illustrated).
Arte Figurativa, Milan, vol. 8, January - February 1960, p. 52, no. 43 (illustrated).
W. Spies, Max Ernst, Werke 1925-1929, Cologne, 1976, no. 1333 (illustrated p. 278).
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Notes: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE FRENCH COLLECTION
Max Ernst's 'shell-flowers' recall the crustacea and shells of his collages and frottages of the early 1920s. Ernst discovered a means of reproducing the frottage effect in oil which he christened 'grattage'. It involved applying several layers of different coloured paint to a strong ground which would then be scraped away with a knife to reveal a kaleidoscope of colour in whatever shape he chose but leaving also quite a space for chance to play a role. And as here, to emphasise the texture of the flowers he would often set them against flat areas of colour.
It is tempting to suggest that these flowers are purely decorative but it is clear that for Ernst they were symbols of primeval beauty.
Setting these pictures in context, Ludger Derenthal writes: 'Les fleurs-coquillages apparaissent d'abord par deux et en petit groupes; plus tard, des jardins nocturnes entiers en seront plantes. Il convient de se remettre en memoire ici les peintures de planches d'études botaniques à l'époque Dada, où les plantes étaient elles aussi isolées et placées sur un horizon bas. Dans 'La Nature', on trouvait des agrandissements de grelons dont les déformations décoratives peuvent également avoir inspiré Max Ernst. Pour finir, ses amis aussi se transforment en fleurs dans un second Rendez vous datant de 1928. Les Fleurs-coquillages sont d'un attrait coloriste délicat. Le peintre remplace le collagiste. Max Ernst se situe ainsi dans la tradition de James Ensor et d'Odilon Redon, artistes chez qui des coquillages se transforment occasionellement en fleurs. C'est là une technique brillante qui permet de mettre à profit la valeur picturale des deux sujets. (L.Derenthal, Max Ernst, Paris, 1992, p.124).
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
