Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris
Private Collection
Sale: Artcurial, Paris, December 5, 2005, lot 11
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Vence, Galerie Alphonse Chave, Max Ernst ne peint plus!... Peintures récentes de décembre 1972 à janvier 1973, 1973, n.n., illustrated in the catalogue
Paris, Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Perturbation, délices et orgues, 1973-74, n.n., illustrated in color in the catalogue 

Edward Quinn, Max Ernst, Zurich, 1970, no. 521, illustrated in color p. 404 (upside down and incorrectly dated)
Sarane Alexandrian, Max Ernst, Paris, 1986, illustrated in color p. 114

The work is in very good condition. The panel is sound. Minor shrinkage is visible in the thickest areas of the blue and purple pigment, most notably at the upper and lower right and towards lower center. There are a few extremely minor losses to the outer edges and corners of the panel. The colors are fresh and vibrant. There are few minor stains and a half inch horizontal scratch to the panel mount. Under UV light: certain original pigments fluoresce and a few nail head size spots of possible in painting flouresce. Otherwise, fine.
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.

Beginning with his involvement in the Dada Movement in Cologne prior to 1920 and up until his death in 1976, Max Ernst returned again and again to bird imagery in his paintings and collages. It was in 1928, however, that he first began associating himself with a bird-man named Loplop, Superior of Birds, which became his personal emblem and alter ego. Writing in his 1942 Surrealist autobiography, Ernst describes his supernatural birth as an eagle: “The 2nd of April (1891) at 9:45 a.m. Max Ernst had his first contact with the sensible world, when he came out of the egg which his mother had laid in an eagle’s nest and which the bird had brooded for seven years” (Max Ernst, "Some Data on the Youth of M.E. As Told by Himself" in View 2, no. 1, 1942, p. 28). When he was 14 years old, his youngest sister was born at the same time that his pet cockatoo died, sending the artist into fits of hysteria that would ultimately impact his entire artistic career: “A dangerous confusion between birds and humans became encrusted in his mind and asserted itself in his drawings and paintings” (ibid., p. 30).