Max Ernst
Moonmad

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Artist Max Ernst French, born Germany, 1891–1976

CultureGerman

Titles

Moonmad

Date1944, cast 1956

Made inNew York, United States

MediumBronze

Dimensions37 1/4 × 15 1/4 × 11 5/8 in. (94.6 × 38.7 × 29.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of D. and J. de Menil

Object number57.5

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Gallery 203

On view

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Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Object Type

SCULPTURE

DescriptionIn 1944 Max Ernst spent the summer on Long Island, New York, with the art dealer Julian Levy. Levy later recalled, “I found Max in the garage casting a ghostly array of white shapes in any and every mold available from the kitchen and backyard, from utensils, milk cartons, and eggshells, and even from a few spare automobile parts. Within two days he had put his random castings together into a construction, a two-faced haunting creature . . . Moonmad.”
Provenance[Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York]; purchased by Dominique and John de Menil, Houston; given to MFAH, 1957.
Exhibition History"The Sky is the Limit," Art Department at the University of St. Thomas, Houston, May 7–June 1969.

"SCULPTURE: Modern Works," Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, October 14–November 26, 1978. (LN:78.17).

"Gauguin to Moore: Primitivism in Modern Sculpture," Art Gallery of Ontario, November 6, 1981–January 3, 1982 (LN:81.25).

"A Century of Modern Sculpture 1882-1982," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 14, 1983– January 31, 1984.

"Art at Midcentury: Spotlight on the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 13–September 3, 2001.

"The Moon: Houston, Tranquility Base Here. The Eagle Has Landed," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 27, 2009–January 10, 2010.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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