Harvard Art Museums > 2010.463: Heavenly and Earthly Love Paintings Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Heavenly and Earthly Love (Max Ernst) , 2010.463,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Nov 12, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/336375. This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text A key figure in both Dada and surrealism, Ernst painted this work after moving from Cologne to Paris, during a pivotal period when he was shifting away from the collage technique of his Dada compositions toward painting and the dreamlike language of surrealism. Divided into two registers, ostensibly the “heavenly” and “earthly” spheres of the title, the work offers an enigmatic and idiosyncratic interpretation of its theme of sacred and profane love, long a source of inspiration for Western artists. Ernst’s grim evocation of heavenly love, with its Pietà-like arrangement of a mourning woman and a pale corpse, recalls the recent trauma and carnage of World War I. The mound of earth and the strange actions of the figures in the lower, “earthly” register evoke the creation story, in which man is formed from a lump of clay, while the enormous snake menacingly alludes to his ultimate fall. Identification and Creation Object Number 2010.463 People Max Ernst, German (Brühl, Germany 1891 - 1976 Paris, France) Title Heavenly and Earthly Love Other Titles Original Language Title: Himmlische und irdische Liebe Classification Paintings Work Type painting Date c. 1923 Places Creation Place: Europe, France, Paris Culture German Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/336375 Location Location Level 1, Room 1500, Modern and Contemporary Art, Art in Germany Between the Wars View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Oil on millboard Technique Painted Dimensions 48 x 63 cm (18 7/8 x 24 13/16 in.) framed: 71 x 85.5 x 4 cm (27 15/16 x 33 11/16 x 1 9/16 in.) Inscriptions and Marks (not assigned): Inscriptions/stickers on verso of painting, attached to back of millboard: Sticker, red rimmed: Art Institute of Chicago/Max Ernst/Heavenly and Earthy Love/Mrs. Julian Levy Loan/1224.1982 Sticker, gray strips top and bottom: AH/Max Ernst/"Heavenly and Earthly Love"/oil on board/193/4 x 25 1/2" Sticker: Moderna Museet/Max Ernst dream and Revolution/20 Sept 2008 -11 Jan 2009/ Met/2008/063 Sticker: Max Ernst: Dada and the Dawn of Surrealism/The Museum of Modern Art, NY 3/12/93-5/2/93/The Menil Collection, Houston 5/27/93 - 8/29/93/The Art Institute of Chicago 9/15/93 - 11/30/93/Checklist #169/ Himmlische und irdische Liebe/ca 1923/24/oil on canvas/ 19 x 25/Lender Dr Arnd Oetker Sticker: APF Inc/Frame makers & Conservators/315 East 91st St./Showrooms/231 East 60th Street/&/1001 Madison Ave./New York City Masking tape: 3191 Levy Sticker, white: 809 Inscription in red crayon: 46 Inscription in red ink: ?20 Provenance Recorded Ownership History Max Ernst, Paris (ca. 1923/24); to Mr. Julien Levy (1930s?-1981), by descent; to Mrs. Julien Levy (1981-1987), sold; [through Galerie Folker Skulima, Berlin, 6/12/87], to Dr. Arend Oetker (1987-2010), gift; to Busch-Reisinger Museum, 2010. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Dr. Arend Oetker, donated through the Arbeitskreis für Kulturelle Aufgaben im Ausland (AKA), Committee for the Promotion of Arts Abroad Copyright © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris Accession Year 2010 Object Number 2010.463 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History John Russell, Max Ernst: Life and Work (New York, 1967), Nr. 15 Werner Spies, Sigrid Metken, and Günter Metken, ed., Max Ernst: Werke 1906-1925, exh. cat. (Köln, Germany & Houston, 1975), Vol. 2, Nr. 635 William A. Camfield, Werner Spies, and Walter Hopps, Max Ernst: Dada and the Dawn of Surrealism, exh. cat. (Munich, Germany & Houston, 1993), Nr. 169, Plate 158 Siegfried Gohr, ed., Wahre Wunder: Sammler & Sammlungen im Rheinland, exh. cat. (Köln, Germany, 2000), Nr. G12, Plate 165 Barbara Eschenburg, Mechthild Fend, and Andreas Tacke, Pygmalions Werkstatt: die Erschaffung des Menschen im Atelier von der Renaissance bis zum Surrealismus, exh. cat., ed. Helmut Friedel (Köln & München, Germany, 2001), P. 270-71, Nr. 114 Werner Spies, Iris Müller-Westermann, and Kirsten Degel, ed., Max Ernst: Dream and Revolution, exh. cat. (Ostfildern, Germany, 2008), p. 84 Exhibition History 32Q: 1500 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Expressionism-Interwar), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 08/05/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 03/28/2024 - 01/01/2050 32Q: 1520 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Interwar and Bauhaus), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 10/10/2023 Subjects and Contexts Collection Highlights Related Articles Training at the Harvard Art Museums: Nathan Timpano August 19, 2013 40 Works for 40 Years: Celebrating the German Friends of the Busch-Reisinger Museum October 16, 2023 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu