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Max Ernst Woman, Old Man, and Flower (Weib, Greis und Blume) Paris 1923, Eaubonne 1924

  • Not on view

Ernst painted the first state of this composition in 1923, the year after he moved from Cologne to Paris to join the nascent Surrealist group. He subsequently modified elements of this picture. Most astonishingly, he added the mysterious, partially transparent, partially modeled, fantopped figure in the foreground, presumably the flower referenced in the title. Even before leaving Germany, Ernst had been thinking about translating the collage and overpainting strategies of his small Dada works on paper into oil on canvas. The results achieved included radical leaps in scale, intensified colors, and what he described to fellow Dadaist Tristan Tzara as “a much insaner effect.”

Gallery label from Max Ernst: Beyond Painting, September 23, 2017-January 1, 2018.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
38 x 51 1/4" (96.5 x 130.2 cm)
Credit
Purchase
Object number
264.1937
Copyright
© 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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Provenance Research Project

This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.

Max Ernst, Paris and Eaubonne.
Johanna Ey (Galerie Ey), Düsseldorf, probably acquired from the artist.
[Paul Gustave and Norine Van Hecke, Brussels]
C. 1930(?) - February 2, 1932, Walter Schwarzenberg (Galerie Le Centaure), Brussels, sold at the auction sale of the Collection Walter Schwarzenberg, Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels, February 1-2, 1932, lot 119.
February 2, 1932 - November 1937, Victor Servranckx, Brussels, purchased at auction through Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels from Walter Schwarzenberg.
November 1937, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, purchased from Victor Servranckx.

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