European Art

Conceived 1959, this example was cast 1979. It is accompanied by a wooden presentation box with a handwritten label: Or 23 carats. 923 millièmes, Poids 18,5gs. Exemplaire No. 4/8; Poinçon 1er titre du Bureau de la Garantie de Marseille Pièce No. 2256/1459 portant la signature de Max Ernst, et le Poinçon de Maître de François Hugo. Fait dans ses atelier d'Aix en Provence en 1979.

Provenance:

Sold: Christie's, New York, February 18, 1988, Lot 131

Collection of Martin Gordon, founder and publisher of Gordon's Print Price Annual and a co-founder of the International Fine Print Dealer's Association.

Literature:

Werner Spies, Sigrid Metken, and Günter Metken, Max Ernst, Œuvre - Katalog, Werke 1954-1963, Houston, 1998, p. 385, no. 3788.I, another cast illustrated

Lot note:

Ernst’s love of masks and carvings, among many of his collecting passions, were addressed in the first series of masks created with François Hugo between 1959 and 1961 and then a second around 1970, both transposed into jewels by Pierre Hugo.