Pétales et jardin de la nymphe Ancolie

1934

Max Ernst1891 Brühl – 1976 Paris
We have 8 artworks by Max Ernst online.
We have 1705 paintings online.
In 1934, the surrealist artist Max Ernst created a large mural for the Mascotte Bar in the Corso building on Bellevue in Zurich. He had received the commission through the mediation of the Zurich architectural historian Sigfried Giedion. When the painting no longer matched the interior of the bar in the late 1950s, it was removed. The monumental painting was detached from the background and transferred to 18 wooden panels, which were then given on loan to the Kunsthaus. In 1965, the painting was acquired by the museum with private support. In 2007-2009, the retouching was removed, the surface was cleaned and consolidated once again in preparation for its placement in the Chipperfield building. Here it is not displayed in a museum gallery, but like in its original setting of a bar. Here, the flower heads of the columbine (also called ‘aquilegia’, in German ‘Akelei’ or ‘Ancolie’, a type of flower to which an aphrodisiac effect has been attributed since the Middle Ages) and other animated creatures between animal and plant welcome visitors on their tour of the New Kunsthaus to a surrealistic refreshment and enchantment.
Also known as
Blütenblätter und Garten der Nymphe Akelei (Wandbild aus der Corso-Bar) Petals and the Garden of the Nymph Ancolie
Medium
Oil on plaster, transferred to panels
Dimensions
image: 415 x 531 cm
Inventory number
1965/0023
Credit line
Kunsthaus Zürich, 1965, The restoration was made possible with the support of the Hans Imholz-Foundation