Wolfgang Paalen
1905 - 1959
Avertissement. 1934.
Oil on canvas, mounted on white-painted cork and in the artist’s original frame.
Signed, dated, and inscribed with a dedication “A Valentine Penrose / March 1935” on the reverse. 36.7 x 53 cm (14.4 x 20.8 in).
A large canvas work of the same name (WVZ No. 34.11) and a smaller work with a slightly different motif (WVZ No. 34.12) exist based on the same subject. [AR].

• The Austrian-born artist is considered a major representative of international Surrealism.
• Beginning in 1932/33, he developed his distinctive, semi-figurative, biomorphic visual language in Paris.
• Offered on the international auction market for the first time (Source: artprice.com).
• Works by the artist are held in international museum collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

PROVENANCE: Gordon Onslow Ford, Iverness, California (directly from the artist).
Lucid Art Foundation, Iverness, California.
Private collection, East Germany.

LITERATURE: Andreas Neufert, Wolfgang Paalen. Im Inneren des Wals, Monograph - Writings - Catalogue Raisonné, Vienna/New York 1999, CR no. 34.13 (with ill. p. 286).

Good overall condition. The canvas, featuring a colored image, shows fine craquelure in places, along with minor soiling, scuffing, and studio marks. The white-painted frame and cork exhibit craquelure, flaking paint, soiling, various stains, and yellowed adhesive residue. A small gap has formed in places between the cork and the frame, such as on the left side. However, both elements remain firmly attached to each other. At the bottom right of the frame, there is a small chip in the wood, the four corners are bumped and show loss of paint. This condition report was prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief in daylight and with the aid of a UV light source.