Barnet & Eleanor Cramer Hodes Collection, Chicago (acquired directly from the artist in 1958)
Private Collection (by descent from the above and sold: Christie's, New York, November 9, 1999, lot 454)
Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York
Private Collection, United States

Minneapolis, Walker Art Center, The Vision of René Magritte, 1962, no. 3, illustrated in color in the catalogue
London, Hayward Gallery, Magritte, 1992-93, no. 150, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Letter from Barnet Hodes to Magritte, September 12, 1957
Letter from Magritte to Barnet Hodes, September 21, 1957
David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Reaburn, René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné, Gouaches, Temperas, Watercolours and Papiers Collés 1918-1967, vol. IV, London, 1994, no. 1440, illustrated p. 203

The work is in excellent condition. The sheet is affixed to a mount at two places along the top edge of the verso. The piece has been titled (possibly by another hand) within the margin along the bottom center edge. From examing the verso is is apparent that the work is slightly time darkened and that there are very minor signs of foxing.
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.

This haunting gouache is a close variant on an earlier oil painting of the same name from 1927 (Sylvester, no. 160; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts). Magritte has sharply divided the background, an inverted rose-colored church set into a steep rocky cliff, from the foreground, which depicts a brightly-lit tiled bathtub and mysterious sheet-covered object. The background and foreground are separated by a black abyss, which fills much of the frame.

David Sylvester writes, "The landscape looks very much as though it was painted the other way up (...), but whether Magritte turned the canvas around in order to facilitate the realization of an upside-down image or whether the painting started out that way, with the bath and cloth-covered object being added only after the image had been inverted, remains a matter of conjecture. As it stands, the outline of the landscape fragment suggests an old device of Magritte's—the pulled-back curtain" (David Sylvester, Magritte Catalogue Raisonné, vol. I, London, 1994, p. 229).

It has been proposed that the reappearing white sheet-covered object or face is a reference, conscious or not, to Magritte's mother's suicide by drowning, which occurred in 1910 when he was 12.  The story goes, perhaps apocryphally, that Magritte was present when the body was recovered and that her face was concealed by her white cotton nightdress.  The motif also appears in L'épreuve de sommeil, 1926-27 (Sylvester, no. 128; Museo Civico, Biella) and Les Amants, 1928 (Sylvester, no. 250; Museum of Modern Art, New York). (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 René Magritte, Les Amants, 1928ꦗ, oil on canvas, Mus🔜eum of Modern Art, New York