id: 162323
accession number: 2002.55
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2002.55
updated: 2023-08-23 23:56:48.285000
Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbre, 1944. Max Ernst (German, 1891–1976). Oil on canvas; framed: 87.3 x 171.1 x 5.7 cm (34 3/8 x 67 3/8 x 2 1/4 in.); unframed: 68 x 150 cm (26 3/4 x 59 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2002.55 © 1944 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ ADAGP, Paris
title: Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbre
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1944
creation date earliest: 1944
creation date latest: 1944
current location: 225 German Expressionism & Surrealism
creditline: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
copyright: © 1944 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ ADAGP, Paris
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culture: Germany, 20th century
technique: oil on canvas
department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Max Ernst (German, 1891–1976) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 87.3 x 171.1 x 5.7 cm (34 3/8 x 67 3/8 x 2 1/4 in.); Unframed: 68 x 150 cm (26 3/4 x 59 1/16 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
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inscriptions:
inscription: signed and dated lower right: max ernst 44
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Max Ernst: A Retrospective
opening date: 2005-04-04T00:00:00
Max Ernst: A Retrospective. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (April 4-July 10, 2005).
title: Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art
opening date: 2006-05-27T00:00:00
Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* Julien Levy Gallery, New York City. Max Ernst. April 24 - May 8, 1944, no. 13.
Copley Galleries, Beverly Hills, CA, Max Ernst: Thirty Years of his Work, A Survey, January 10 - February 20, 1949, no. 41.
Galerie René Drouin, Paris, Max Ernst, 1950, no. 19.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Max Ernst, A Retrospective, 1975, no. 205. (traveled to Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 1975).
Haus der Kunst, Munich. Max Ernst: Retrospektive, 1979, no. 274.
Tate Gallery, London. Max Ernst. A Retrospective, 1991, no. 212.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Surrealism: Two Private Eyes, The Nesuhi and Daniel Filipacchi Collections, 1999, no. 84.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (4/4/2005 - 7/10/2005): "Max Ernst: A Retrospective"
CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"
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PROVENANCE
William N. Copley, New York, acquired from the artist (1948); (Sotheby, Parke-Bernet, NY, William N. Copley Collection, Nov. 5-6, 1979, no. 51.); (Sotheby, Parke-Bernet, NY, Julien Levy Collection, Nov. 5, 1979, no. 50. ??) Daniel Filipacchi, Paris/New York
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fun fact:
Scientific analysis of this painting shows that the black background was added last.
digital description:
A frightening fish isn't the only strange thing about this scene; it's also painted in an unusual way. To create more abstract areas in the center of the painting, Ernst lifted paint from the surface using perhaps a cloth or sheet of paper, allowing abstract patterns to form in the process. Called decalcomania, this method blots paint in ways that resemble plants and minerals. Elsewhere in the work, smoothly painted fish scales seem almost traditional by comparison.
wall description:
Ernst painted this parody of Édouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass just a few years after fleeing to America from Nazi persecution in Europe. Inverting Manet’s image, Ernst substituted a fish for the nude woman and eliminated the other figures. The painting’s title is written against a black background, suggesting the traditional chalk menu in a French restaurant. The word herbre contains an extra letter to produce a comic rolling sound effect.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Quinn, Edward. Max Ernst. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1977.
page number: Reproduced: p. 241, no. 283
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art, “Max Ernst Painting Featured Among Cleveland Museum of Art’s New Acquisitions,” June 25, 2002, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
page number:
url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4457
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IMAGES