Max Ernst, Colombe, 1926

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oil on cardboard

24 x 17 cm
9 1/2 x 6 3/4 in
framed: 42.4 x 35.2 x 2.5 cm

Painted in 1926, Colombe is a key work from one of Max Ernst’s most inventive and productive periods. Using frottage and grattage, he built a richly textured surface around the...

Painted in 1926, Colombe is a key work from one of Max Ernst’s most inventive and productive periods. Using frottage and grattage, he built a richly textured surface around the image of a stylised white dove. The background is split between a rough, reddish-brown area and a smoother blue section, interrupted by a golden-brown form. These contrasting zones reflect Ernst’s deep interest in material experimentation and the interplay between chance and control.

Though the dove is traditionally a symbol of peace, Ernst gives it a more enigmatic presence. Suspended in an undefined space, it carries a psychological charge and likely functions as a self-symbol. Ernst often used birds as personal emblems, and this work anticipates the development of his fictional alter ego Loplop. Colombe thus marks an early step in the creation of his distinctive symbolic world.

The painting was acquired by Marie-Laure de Noailles, an influential supporter of the Surrealists. Her early interest in Ernst’s work helped secure his reputation. Colombe was later shown in major Surrealist exhibitions and included in the Catalogue Raisonné, confirming its importance within Ernst’s evolving artistic universe.

Provenance

Marie-Laure de Noailles, Paris
Sotheby's London: Wednesday, June 28, 2000
Patrick Waldberg, Paris

Exhibitions

Le Surréalisme, galerie des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux, 30 avril - 1 septembre 1971 Le Surréalisme,
musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, 9 juin - 25 septembre 1972

Literature

W. Spies, S. und G.Metken, Max Ernst catalogue raisonné, 1925-1929, Ed.Dumont -
Menil Foundation Cologne 1987, 1042, p. 130 rep.
Le Surréalisme, galerie des Beaux-Arts Bordeaux, 30 avril - 1 septembre 1971, cat. n° 94
Le Surréalisme, musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, 9 juin - 25 septembre 1972, cat. N° 153

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Max Ernst Germany, 1891-1976

Provenance

Exhibitions

Literature