Sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 2, 1978, lot 222
Private collection (acquired at the above sale and sold: Drouot Montaigne, Paris, December 3, 2002, lot 52)
Acquired at the above sale by Dr. Arthur Brandt

Hartford, The Wadsworth Atheneum, Dalí, Picasso, and the Surrealist Vision, 2005
Ithaca, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, 2006, illustrated in the catalogue p. 45

René Crevel, Mr Knife Miss Fork, Paris, 1931, a negative print of the unsigned original frottage illustrated in the frontispiece
Werner Spies, Max Ernst Oeure-Katalog, Werke 1929-1938, Cologne, 1979, no. 1724, the signed original frottage illustrated p. 83

Attached to the mount at the upper right and left corners and floating in its mount. There are slight spots of discolouration to the upper right and left corners probably due to the mounting. There is some faint silver mirroring to the darkest areas of the print. This work is in very good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A negative photographic print of an original frottage by Max Ernst was used for the frontispice of Mr Knife Miss Fork by René Crevel, editions The Black Sun Press, Paris, 1931, of which 255 examples were published. At the beginning of the 1930s, Max Ernst and Man Ray were determined to master a process that allowed them to transpose Max Ernst's "frottage" drawings on photographic paper without using a camera. They managed to master the process: the rubbing on thin, transparent paper could be directly placed on photographic paper and exposed to light. The transparent paper allowed for the light to interact with the photographic paper. In 1936, three of these photograms were chosen by Breton.