Max Ernst (1891-1976)

[03/04/2005]

 

Between 7 April and 10 July, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will host a retrospective of Max Ernst, the first of its scale to be shown in New York in thirty years. Through some 180 works, including paintings, collages, drawings, sculptures and illustrated books, the exhibition shows the diversity of the work of one of the pillars of the surrealist movement.

Born in 1891, Max Ernst began exhibiting as an expressionist in 1913 at the Autumn Fair in Berlin, Bonn and Cologne. After World War I, he discovered the Dada movement, and founded the “Centrale W/3” with Hans Arp. From 1920, his paintings heralded the surrealism movement which he and André Breton were part of from its beginnings. Ernst combined innovative pictorial techniques (collages, frottages, prints, photomontages) along the themes of the cosmos, mineral forests and fossils. From 1934, he stepped up his sculpture production. In 1941, Ernst emigrated to the United States where he had a strong influence on young American artists particularly with his dripping technique which he is said to have discovered with Masson. In 1954, he was awarded the First Prize for painting at the Venice Biennale. In 1975, a year before his death, he was given a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum.

Max ERNST (1891-1976) : 
Artist benchmark 2004 by Artprice.com
Value
in 2004
Annual
growth
Price index (base1997 = $100)
257
+42%
Annual turnover
$ 8,133,106
+29%
Number of lots sold
190
+15%
% of lots unsold (excluding prints)
35%
-24%
Rank of artist
63
-17

Ernst has an abundant production. Every year, 200-300 Ernst works come up for auction. Of these, 72% are prints, 11% are paintings and 9% are sculptures. Since 1997, 60% of the artist’s paintings have been knocked down for less than USD 100,000 with a peak for La fuite that went under the hammer for USD 1.6 million on 2 February 2004 at Christie’s London. Expect to pay USD 10,000-20,000 for a small frottage on paper and USD 100,000-200,000 for a large bronze. In 2004, 190 works changed hands, representing turnover of USD 8.1 million. According to Artprice, between 1997 and 2004, the prices of Max Ernst’s works rose 157%.