Estate of the artist
Dorothea Tanning
Cavaliero Fine Arts, New York
Linda C. Koch Fine Arts, USA
P🅷rivate Collec🍰tion, Switzerland (sold: Pierre Bergé & Associés, Geneva, March 25, 2003, lot 25)

Werner Spies, Fabrice Hergott, Doris Krystof, Gunter Metken, Jurgen Pech, Max Ernst, sculptures, maisons, paysages (exhibition catalogue), Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 1998, no. 128, illustrations of another cast pp. 200 & 208
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, 1992, illustrations of another cast pp. 20 & 159
Werner Spies, Sigrid & Günter Metken, Max Ernst Oeuvre-Katalog Werke 1939-1953, Texas & Köln, 1987, p. 89, no. 2460,I

Very good condition. Recently waxed and cleaned. Some very minor nicks and scratches. Some rubbing to the patina along the top edge of the platform. This work is bolted to a wooden base which has numerous losses.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

After his active involvement in the Eur🍬opean Surrealist movement, Max Ernst left France and arrived in New York in 1941.  Following his brief marriage to Peggy Guggenheim, who was responsible for his escape from Europe, he met artist Dorothea Tanning at the end of 1942.  The pair moved to Great River, Long Island and rented a house for the summer. Ernst promptly converted the garage into a workshop and began creating a sculpture🏅 series in which he utilized objects and tools he discovered in the garage and kitchen. 

Tortue is part of a unique series created during this summer in Great River.  Rendered in simplified geometric shapes and planes, the disk-like shell slants on an angle upward, supported by two cone-shaped legs. The head appears to have been cast from two spoon shaped forms, and extends the shell's diagonal axis.  The weighty sculpture is a departure from Ernst's Surrealist works. As stated by Diane Waldman in the catalogue for Ernst's 1975 retrospective at the Guggenheim, "The physicality that interested him in his sculpture made it impossible for him to translate successfully the illusionistic dream-like imagery or automatism of his painting" (Diane Waldman, Max Ernst, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1975, p. 46). Tortue is also a successful translation of the ꦗconcept of collage, a beloved technique whic🍨h Ernst began exploring during his participation in the Dada movement. 

Primitive art and symbols of natural and human concepts are also referenced in Tortue.  The shell's surface is ornamented with roughly carved finger-width grooves that emerge from a deeply scooped indent at the shell's top.  These linear striations imitate the veins of the Seibold Plantainlily, a plant common in southern France (see fig. 1).  Combined with the turtle's traditional representation of longevity and stability, Tortue evokes the eternal huma🍸n fascination with fertility and the cycle of life𒁃.  This extraordinary work is a brilliant example from Ernst's Long Island series - a unique period in the artist's oeuvre.

Fig. I  Another view

Fig🀅. 2  A photograไph of the Siebold Plantainlily, taken by Paul Rewald