In May 1940, accused by a deaf-mute who accuses him of signaling to the enemy while the German army is more than a thousand kilometers away, Max Ernst is taken to Camp des Milles, near Aix-en-Provence, a former brickyard converted into an internment camp for nationals of the Third Reich. "The general conditions of the camp," Max Ernst would later say, "were a middle ground between Poland, that is, the 'nowhere' of Father Ubu, and Kafka's dark stifling chambers." Alongside Hans Bellmer, his dormitory companion, he creates some small-format frottages, some colored and others enhanced. These are often desolate landscapes populated with tragic figures, as in our painting brushed in a palette of cold tones that depicts a profiled figure nestled in the foothills of a volcano. Although reduced in size, this work is monumental in its treatment and striking in its foreshadowing of the impending tragedy for the Jews of Europe.
Reproduced in André Fontaine's reference publication, "Le Camp d'étrangers des Milles," this painting will be one of the highlights of the Impressionist & Modern Art auction on April 20, 2023.