Raymond Magritte, Belgium (ac🍒quired from the ar♏tist)

Arlette Magritte (by descent from the above and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 3, 1993, lot 52)

Private Colꦑlection, Belgium (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired by the present owner in 2001

Paris, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Hommage à Magritte, 1984-85, no. 42

David Sylvester & Sarah Whitfield, René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné, vol. II, London, 1993, no. 602, illustrated p. 367

Original canvas. Under ultra-violet light, there are horizontal hairline retouchings addressing paint shrinkage, mainly in the sea and land in the lower half of the composition, and a few hairline retouchings on the woman's breast and shoulder beneath the dove. Apart from a slight horizontal stretcher mark running through the center, this work is in good condition. Colors: The colors in the catalogue are fairly accurate.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

La Magie Noire belongs to a series of works Magritte executed in the 1940s, depicting a female nude in an unidentified landscape.  The model for this series was the artist's wife, Georgette Berger, and her image in the present picture is identical to the nude in Les Fleurs du mal (Sylvester no. 601) from that same year.  Georgette is painted in a classical manner, with her figure abiding by the laws of beauty and proportion and resembling a marble sculpture as much as a live model. This traditional representation, however, is juxtaposed with the unexpected coloration of the figure, whose upper body gradually acquires the tone of the sky behind her. In nearly all paintings from this group, the woman has one hand resting on a block of stone. As Magritte himself proclaimed: "One idea is that stone is associated with an 'attachment' to the earth. It does not rise up of its own accord; you can rely on its remaining faithful to the earth's attraction. Woman, too, if you like. From another point of view the hard existence of stone (...) and the mental and physical system of a human being are not unconnected" (quoted in J. Meuris, René Magritte, London, 1988, p. 76).

The nude is always depicted either with her eyes closed, or with her head turned away from the viewer or, as in the present work, with blank eyes resembling those of a sculpture, thus becoming the object of the spectator's gaze and erotic desire. "Magritte said, in fact, that an undercurrent of eroticism was one of the reasons a painting might have for existing. It asserted itself most intensely and explicitly in these stately classical nudes with their cool coloring. For the very reason that it aims at maximum resemblance, their academicism is upset by the provocation of mystery emanating from that identification, once the painting and the arrangement of the painting interfere with its course. The prime example is Black Magic" (ibid., p. 76).

In a letter to Paul Nougé of January 1948, Magritte wrote on the subject of the present work as follows, "I am searching for a title for the picture of the nude woman (naked torso) in the room with the rock. One idea is that the stone is linked by some Affinity to the earth, it can't raise itself, we can rely on its generic fidelity to terrestrial attraction. The woman, too, if you like. From another point of view, the hard existence of the stone, well-defined, 'a hard feeling,' and the mental and physical system of a human being are not unconnected" (H. Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, New York, 1977, p. 173).