Barnet & Eleanor Cramer Hodes, Chicago (acquired from the artist in 1956)

Thence by descent

London, Hayward Gallery; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Houston, Menil Collection & Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Magritte, 1992-93, no. 150, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Letter from Magritte to Barnet Hodes, November 9, 1956

Letter🐽 from Barnet Hodes to Magritte, January 29, 1෴957

Letter from Magritte ꦇto Barnet Hodes, February 4, 1957

David Sylvester, ed., Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn, René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné: Gouaches, Temperas, Watercolours and Papier Collés, 1918-1967, 1994, no. 1417, illustrated p. 191

In excellent condition. The work is hinged to a non-acidic mount at the corners. There are no nicks, tears, or losses. The medium is stable.
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.
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Magritte first explored the imagery of La Leçon des ténèbres in an oil of the same title, painted in 1954, which belonged to Jean and Dominique de Menil (David Sylvester, ed., op. cit., no. 811). According to the authors of the catalogue raisonné, "The title comes from [the composer François] Couperin’s Leçon des ténèbres pour le mercredi saint’ / ‘Lessons for Tenebrae for the Wednesday of Holy Week’/, of which there was a recording in Magritte’s collection" (ibid., vol. III, p. 234).

In a letter sent to Magritte in January 1957, Barnet Hodes – a Chicago collector and original owner of the present work – asked the artist for an explanation of the image: "Is this a study in shadows? Does the darkness of the room give meaning to the daylight outside?" (quoted in ibid., vol. IV, p. 191).

 

Magritte answered the collector’s question in a letter dated February 4, 1957: "It is a contrast between (or a bringing together of?) light and darkness. But the image was not conceived as a means of studying light and darkness. The image shows that enjoyment of the light and enjoyment of the dark are of equal value. It applies the means used for a technical study of darkness and light, but whereas in a study, the means – acquiring the means – is the aim, in the case of ‘Lesson from the Tenebrae’ the means were already at the painter’s disposal. De facto, it is darkness and light. De jure, it is pleasure" (ibid., vol. III, p. 234). This enigmatic coupling of light and darkness most famously personified Magritte’s celebrated series L’Empire des lumières.