ERNST, Max. Paramythes.

Paris: Le Point Cardinal, 1967.

Folio (312 x 212 mm). pp. [24]. Lithographic frontispiece illustration tipped in, and 8 further full-page lithographic illustrations by Max Ernst. Publisher’s blue paper wrappers printed in black with a small illustration by Ernst, a few very small creases at upper joint. Numbered and initialled ‘J.H.’ on the limitation page at end. A fine copy.

FIRST EDITION IN FRENCH, one of 1,000, this one No. 611. Originally written in English in 1949 and published by the Copley Galleries in Beverley Hills, the work was then translated by Ernst into German (his native language) and published in 1955; this edition was prepared from the German text by Robert Valançay.

Ernst had moved, like most of the Surrealists - including Breton - to America during the War, with the help of Peggy Guggenheim (who had fallen in love with him). He remained there after the war, setting up home in the Arizona desert with Dorothea Tanning. Technically, he was to influence American Abstract Expressionism (the influence of his technical approach to paint can be seen in Jackson Pollock’s work). This work reflects Ernst’s interest in birds and hybrid man-bird creatures, his use of 19th century popular engravings and his interest in Hopi art. Ernst frequently used Collage in his book illustrations to create the effect of the ‘unheimlich’ - or the slight Surrealist shock of finding things almost as we expect them, but not quite.

William N. Copley (1919-1996) opened Copley Galleries with John Ployardt in Beverly Hills. The Gallery exhibited Surrealist artists, among them Magritte, Matta, Joseph Cornell, Man Ray, Tanguy and Max Ernst. Robert Valançay was a poet, translator and literary critic who worked with many of the artists and poets of the surrealist group. Despite working as a translator for Shell, he was “considered the official translator of Max Ernst and Hans Arp”.

Édition originale Française. Neuf lithographies de Max Ernst. Un de 1,000 exemplaires, ceci no. 611. État presque neuf.