Exhibition Details

Galleria Continua is delighted to present Les surprises du hasard (The surprises of chance), an unprecedented dialogue between Max Ernst and Joaquín Ferrer - two major figures born on opposite sides of the Atlantic, whose deep intellectual and artistic friendship has long remained largely unknown. Ernst played a significant role in supporting Ferrer shortly after his arrival in France in the 1960s. Coinciding with Paris’ spring art week, this unique encounter unfolds within the gallery’s space in the heart of the Matignon district.
Les surprises du hasard was the title of a 1971 exhibition at Galerie Alphonse Chave in Vence, showcasing a series of Max Ernst’s lithographs—45 compositions born entirely from chance, as the artist himself described in the catalog. It was this same stroke of luck that sparked the friendship between Max Ernst and Joaquín Ferrer - a meeting that was unexpected yet instantly felt meant to be. The two artists first met in 1967 over lunch at the home of poet and writer Alain Bosquet. At the time, Ernst was already a celebrated artist, while Ferrer was a young painter who had arrived in Paris in 1960 on a Cuban government scholarship. From their very first encounter, Ernst was struck by the power of Ferrer’s drawings and paintings, so much so that he found them reassuring.