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Max Ernst
Max Ernst, Electra, from XXe siecle, 1939
1939

Name: Max Ernst, Electra, from XXe siecle, 1939
Brand: Max Ernst
Price: 1867.86 AUD
Availability: InStock
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About the Item

This exquisite lithograph by Max Ernst (1891–1976), titled Electra, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939, originates from the 1939 edition published by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris, in collaboration with Societe Internationale d'Art XXe siecle, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris. Electra captures Ernst’s fascination with myth, metamorphosis, and the subconscious, combining the precision of draftsmanship with the dreamlike poetry that defined his contribution to modernism. Executed as a lithograph on velin paper, this work measures 12.5 × 9.75 inches (31.75 × 24.77 cm). Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of Mourlot Freres, Paris. Artwork Details: Artist: Max Ernst (1891–1976) Title: Electra, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939 Medium: Lithograph on velin paper Dimensions: 12.5 × 9.75 inches (31.75 × 24.77 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Date: 1939 Publisher: Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris, in collaboration with Societe Internationale d'Art XXe siecle, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue raisonne references: Ernst, Max, et al. *Max Ernst: Graphische Welten: Die Sammlung Schneppenheim.* DuMont, 2003, illustration 21A Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939, published by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris About the Publication: Gualtieri di San Lazzaro’s XXe Siecle (Twentieth Century) was one of the most influential art journals of the modern era, founded in Paris in 1938 as a platform for the greatest painters, sculptors, and writers of the 20th century. San Lazzaro—a visionary editor, critic, and champion of modernism—believed that art and literature should coexist as expressions of a shared human imagination. Under his direction, XXe Siecle became a cultural bridge between Europe and the wider world, publishing special issues devoted to leading figures such as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Braque, Calder, Miro, Kandinsky, and Leger. Each edition combined essays by renowned critics and poets with original lithographs printed by the foremost ateliers of Paris, including Mourlot, Arte, and Bellini, creating a uniquely rich dialogue between text and image. Through XXe Siecle, San Lazzaro preserved the creative spirit of the avant-garde during and after World War II, championing freedom of expression and the evolution of abstraction, Surrealism, and modern thought. Over nearly four decades, the journal shaped international taste and defined the intellectual landscape of postwar art publishing. Today, XXe Siecle remains celebrated for its extraordinary synthesis of art, literature, and design—an enduring testament to Gualtieri di San Lazzaro’s belief that the visual arts are the soul of the modern age. About the Artist: Max Ernst (1891–1976) was a German-French painter, sculptor, printmaker, and poet whose groundbreaking imagination and experimental techniques made him one of the most revolutionary figures of 20th-century art. A founding member of both Dada and Surrealism, Ernst dismantled traditional notions of art through chance, dream imagery, and psychological exploration, transforming painting, sculpture, and collage into instruments of the unconscious mind. Born in Bruhl, Germany, he studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Bonn before rejecting academic convention to pursue art, inspired by the Symbolists, Cubists, and the early abstractions of Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky. His traumatic experience serving in World War I left him disillusioned with logic and order, propelling him toward the Dada movement in Cologne in 1919, where he began creating his seminal collages that fused scientific diagrams and Victorian engravings into surreal dreamscapes. By 1922, Ernst had moved to Paris and joined a circle of avant-garde luminaries that included Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Andre Breton, each of whom shared his fascination with the irrational and the unseen. Ernst’s invention of frottage (rubbing) and grattage (scraping) revolutionized modern painting, revealing textures and hidden images beneath the surface and allowing chance to become an active participant in creation. His visionary paintings—such as *The Elephant Celebes* (1921), *Two Children Are Threatened by a Nightingale* (1924), and *Europe After the Rain II* (1940–42)—blend myth, science, and dream into vast symbolic landscapes that remain among the defining masterpieces of Surrealism. A restless innovator, Ernst expanded into sculpture, crafting enigmatic totemic forms such as *Capricorne* (1948–1963) that bridged organic abstraction and surreal fantasy, echoing the fluid equilibrium of Calder’s mobiles and the conceptual wit of Duchamp. Fleeing Nazi-occupied France during World War II, Ernst emigrated to the United States with the support of Peggy Guggenheim, whom he later married, influencing the emerging Abstract Expressionists—among them Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, and Willem de Kooning—through his fusion of automatism, texture, and mythic narrative. Returning to Europe after the war, he continued to refine his poetic, alchemical approach to painting, blending chaos and order into cosmic landscapes that inspired later artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Kiki Smith. His work, housed in major museums including MoMA, the Tate, and the Centre Pompidou, stands as a testament to his belief that art could bridge the conscious and unconscious, the rational and the fantastic. Standing alongside Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, Max Ernst remains a cornerstone of modern art—an artist-philosopher whose limitless curiosity reshaped visual language and influenced generations of creators. His highest auction record was achieved by *Le roi jouant avec la reine (The King Playing with the Queen)* (1944), which sold for approximately $24.4 million USD at Christie’s, New York, in November 2022, reaffirming Max Ernst’s enduring legacy as one of the most visionary, provocative, and collectible masters of 20th-century modernism. Max Ernst Electra, Ernst XXe siecle, Ernst Mourlot, Ernst 1939 lithograph, Ernst velin paper, Ernst Surrealism, Ernst collectible print.

Creator:

Max Ernst (1891-1976, American, German, French)

Creation Year:

1939

Dimensions:

Height: 12.4 in (31.5 cm)Width: 9.65 in (24.52 cm)

Medium:

Lithograph

Movement & Style:

Surrealist

Period:

1930-1939

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Southampton, NY

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1465216660042

Shop All Max Ernst

Max Ernst

Born in Germany in 1891, later naturalized as an American, then a French citizen, Max Ernst was a pioneer in the Dada and Surrealist movements, the boundaries of which he pushed with his unconventional methods of printmaking, drawing and collage.

Ernst had no formal art training — and that may have been his greatest asset. He produced his first work following four years serving in World War I. At the time, he was in Cologne, Germany, working closely with fellow Dada pioneers Jean Arp and Johannes Baargeld. His output during this period consisted largely of collages, which allowed him to represent the shards, rubble and explosions from his traumatic wartime experience.

In 1922, Ernst moved to France, where he soon became affiliated with Surrealism, the avant-garde art movement taking shape in Paris. Alongside Man Ray, Joan Miró and a couple of others, Ernst was among the first visual artists to experiment with imagery and techniques associated with Surrealism.

Ernst’s greatest contribution to the Surrealist movement was his invention of frottage (French for “rubbing”), wherein an artist rubs a pencil or crayon over a paper atop a textured surface, and later grattage (French for “scraping”), where a similar technique is applied with paint. Both methods showcase Ernst’s fascination with the unconscious and serendipitous elements of artistic creation, a theme that connected the Dadaists and the Surrealists. Ernst had deep knowledge of psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud’s dream theories, which were big influences on Surrealists. He was among the first Surrealists to use Freud’s work to examine his own creative impulses. He also published a series of books of his collages, all of which were deeply symbolic and often philosophical.

When Germany occupied France during World War II, Ernst escaped to America with the help of patron and collector Peggy Guggenheim, whom he married in 1941. While living in New York, Ernst’s work and techniques proved instrumental in inspiring the early development of Abstract Expressionism — influencing Robert Motherwell and Jackson Pollock in particular. He later moved to Sedona, Arizona, where he lived with his fourth wife, Dorothea Tanning, a fellow Surrealist and prolific visual artist and poet.

While Ernst and Tanning are largely responsible for Sedona’s reputation as an artist colony, they relocated to France in the 1950s and remained until Ernst’s death in Paris in 1976.

By Max Ernst

Located in Roma, IT

Color lithograph realized by Max Ernst in 1974. Not signed. as issued. Printed by Atelier Pierre Chave in Vence, France. Excellent condition. This lithograph was realized by th...

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