Schnabelpaar - Bird Couple. No VIII. by Max Ernst, 1891-1976

Max Ernst, 1891-1976
Scroll down for information.
Click here to return to the list.

Schnabelpaar - Bird Couple. No VIII.

Original etching with aquatint printed in 'negative' - white line on black. 1953. Signed in pencil. Inscribed in pencil as 'bon a tirer' - the 'guide' proof. Also inscribed (in another hand) as a 'variant proof. Probably unique in this form. Subsequently issued in a total edition of 33 impressions in the series: Das Schnabelpaar. Published by Beyeler, Basel 1953.
Ref: Spiess-Leppien 'Ernst Grafik' no 56 viii, variant.

Superb dense by sparkling proof impression. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Extremely fine original condition; not restored. The slightest traces of old mount hinges on the reverse. Full margins. Sheet: 15x1 lins. Plate: 9 3/8 x 7ins. (238xl77mm)

This item is sold.
Click here to enquire about this item.

The series of eight etchings under the title Das Schnabelpaar - Bird Couple includes some of Ernst's most inspired and admired prints of the 1950's. This composition is probably the single most famous composition from the series. This impression is a variant proof, probably unique. (The issued edition was just 33 impressions).

A superb and extraordinarily compelling example of the extreme creativity of Ernst's use of etched media in the years around the beginning of the 1950's. It was at that period that he began his constant search for fresh ways of using the bitten copper plate to create new qualities of imagery which was to last until the end of his life. In this famous plate he has used an even aquatint tone to create a background; through this he drew a deep-bitten flowing line. The plate was then inked in reverse, so that the line prints 'blind' - or white - and standing 'in relief? against a background of dense but deliberately textured black. In compositions like this Ernst was interested in the 'visual experience' which results from the way that the viewers eye reads the image by following along the shape. Through the brightness of the line, and the contrast of the textured dense black, he creates a very powerful emotional effect.

Ernst became interested in etching as a medium in the late 1930's through his involvement with the other Surrealists and their friendship with Stanley Hayter. This interest was furthered when the group and Hayter were in New York during the War, and the enthusiasm for printmaking shown by his wife, the artist Dorothea Tanning whom Ernst married in New York in 1946. At the beginning of the 1950's Ernst returned to Paris, further developing his use of printmaking, but despite the support of galleries like La Hune, he found it intensely difficult to interest people in his work and was forced to return to the USA for a time. Throughout these years printmaking became more and more of a passion for him, and prints from the early 1950's like Das Schnabelpaar show his uniquely creative use of the medium.