Max Ernst: Musée des Beaux Arts Tours.
Baby turtle hatchlings, Max Ernst.
Look at them. Two baby turtle hatchlings forever side by side. Innocuous enough except for the story behind them.
Sculpted by world famous Surrealist, Max Ernst, they were born almost sixty years ago to adorn the basin of his wonderful Fountain in Amboise.
Baby turtle hatchling , Max Ernst Fountain, Amboise.
As is the case after a famous artist’s death, Ernst became extremely collectable and his work increasingly valuable. Three of his original baby turtles were stolen. Of the three remaining one is in safe storage, these are the other two.
In 1986 Ernst’s widow, the Surrealist artist, Dorothea Tanning, gave permission for resin replicas to replace those stolen.
In 1987, The Fountain was officially listed as a Historical Monument.
In 1992 the replicas were put in place.
In 1993 four needed repair; the other two were also in a sorry state.
In 1994, four were discovered to be minus their heads, the other two were partly severed at the neck.
Max Ernst Fountain, Amboise.
The Fountain was completely restored between 2009 and 2014.
These two hatchlings were so fragile they were brought here for safe keeping. How wonderful to have the opportunity to see one in shiny bronze as created.
Museums are the apostles of history. All power to their elbows.
If the vandalism was because of the perennial cry ‘call that art’? not only would Ernst not be offended, he would be pleased he could still cause a reaction. He liked shocking us out of our complacency. It was not the first time his work was destroyed.
As a young man, Ernst was a nihilist, an agent provocateur, but he was seventy-four when he designed The Fountain. He may no longer have intended to shock but it’s clear he wanted to challenge pre-conceptions of what a fountain should look like. He was, after all, the arch-Surrealist who spent his life challenging convention.
Professor Werner Spies, an ex-Director of the Pompidou Centre in Paris said that The Fountain was Ernst’s first and only large scale commission and the first time he used bronze and stone together. He also said The Fountain is Max Ernst’s Masterpiece.
Amboise is lucky to have it.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art).
Max Ernst: and The Genie of Amboise
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