Executed in 1947, Chat baillant is making its auction debut, having been in the same family collects
ion since its creation. The image provides an insight into Ernst’s changing practice in the late 1940s. Increasingly abstract and characterized by brightly colored geometric planes, Ernst’s work at this t.mes
demonstrates a new range of influences. In 1946 he had purchased a plot of land in the desert town of Sedona, Arizona and settled there with the artist Dorothea Tanning, whom he married the same year. At the t.mes
, Sedona was an extremely remote village surrounded by untouched desert and Native American settlements. The fantastic quality and the opulence of color Ernst witnessed in the new gripping landscape around him made a strong impression that carried over into his art. Ernst had long been interested in Native American artwork and his new setting also reignited an enthusiasm for incorporating them into his creative process. The works that he completed during these years also evidence the artist's renewed optimism triggered by Europe's post-war recovery, and the present work can be interpreted in this spirit.
