- 336
René Magritte
Description
- René Magritte
- La Tour
- Signed Magritte (lower left)
- Sanguine on paper
- 14 3/8 by 17 1/2 in.
- 36.5 by 44.5 cm
Provenance
Dr. Edward Newman, Chicago (acquired by 1984)
Private Collection, Chicago
Private Collection, Germany
Galerie Haas, Zurich
Private Collection, Switzerland
Exhibited
Condition
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.
Catalogue Note
The more fluid execution of the present work is reminiscent of what is considered Magritte's "Renoir" or, as the artist himself referred to it, his “sunlit” period which dominated the years 1943-47, when the artist perceived that the greatest way to paint escapist works was via an Impressionistic style. In the present work, Magritte combines the Impressionistic draftsmanship with an entirely arbitrary, anti-naturalistic depiction of subjects and forms to create an agreeable contradiction that, true to Magritte’s form, subverts our spatial preconceptions by pushing things to their logical conclusion. Here the artist has expertly made the masonry weightless and created a paradox of figurative art with the representation of three-dimensional forms on a flat surface. As Magritte himself insists: “The all-powerful hand can do as it pleases with the heaviest stones and a wall” (quoted in David Sylvester, René Magritte, Catalogue Raisonné Oil Paintings and Objects: 1931-1948, vol. II, Antwerp, 1993, p. 377).