- 320
RENÉ MAGRITTE | Le Traité du paysage
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
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Description
- René Magritte
- Le Traité du paysage
- signed Magritte (lower right)
- gouache on paper
- 27 by 30.5cm., 10 3/4 by 12in.
- Executed in 1943.
Provenance
Paul Nougé, Brussels (acquired directly from the artist)
Gilbert Sénécaut, Antwerp (acquired from the above, possibly in the 1950s)
Sale: Christie’s, New York, 13th November 1985, lot 171
Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 17th May 1990, lot 188
Purchased at the above sale by the family of the present owner
Gilbert Sénécaut, Antwerp (acquired from the above, possibly in the 1950s)
Sale: Christie’s, New York, 13th November 1985, lot 171
Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 17th May 1990, lot 188
Purchased at the above sale by the family of the present owner
Literature
Letter from Magritte to Nougé, August 1942, in René Magritte, Nougé, no. 4
Letter from Magritte to Mariën, May 1943, in René Magritte, Destination, no. 46, and editorial note, p. 52
Paul Nougé, ‘Traité du paysage’ in Histoire de ne pas rire, Brussels, 1956, p. 297
David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné, London, 1994, vol. IV, no. 1183, illustrated p. 55
Letter from Magritte to Mariën, May 1943, in René Magritte, Destination, no. 46, and editorial note, p. 52
Paul Nougé, ‘Traité du paysage’ in Histoire de ne pas rire, Brussels, 1956, p. 297
David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné, London, 1994, vol. IV, no. 1183, illustrated p. 55
Condition
Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down and attached to the mount along the upper edge of the verso. The upper edge is slightly unevenly cut. There is some minor scuffing to the extreme lower left edge, a thin scratch to the paper surface to the upper right corner (approx. 5cm long) and a flattened crease towards the upper left edge. The pencil under-drawing is visible in places. The colours are bright and fresh and this work is in overall good 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
'Such is the virtue of this image. Or rather, one of its virtues. There could be no stronger or more discreet attack on the substance of the visible world. No monsters or chimeras need appear in this peaceful countryside. All is in keeping with everyday orderliness, - while the charm operates with the primary certainty of a mirror, in the absence of the aerial perspective'
Paul Nougè describing the present work, quoted in David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), op. cit., pp. 55-56
Le Traité du paysage plays with the viewer’s perception of distance and foreground to surreal effect, creating a curious sensation of displacement. Ghostly mauve-blue hues pervade the foreground, whilst warm greens seep into the background, the change in colour and the increasing detail contributing to the overall ethereal effect of the work. Executed in 1943, during the height of the Second World War, this work puts ‘the spectator into a strange situation: his unusual way of looking at things constrains him to be at one and the same time on the extreme edge and in the extreme depths of the scene, his mind is forced into a continuous oscillation between two positions which seem incompatible and which fuse together into the paradoxical and remarkable fruitful state in which he finds himself’ (David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), op. cit., pp. 55-56). Echoes of this otherworldly gouache can be seen in another work by Magritte executed in the same year, which also draws on the remarkable idea of reversed perspective.
Imprinted with silence and mystery, this enigmatic work is devoid of any human figures and depicts a peaceful countryside scene, the central pathway leading the viewer into the vanishing far distance. Yet it is the eerie absence of aerial perspective that leads Paul Nougé, the Belgian theoretician of surrealism, to comment this: ‘there could be no stronger or more discreet attack on the substance of the visible world’ (quoted in ibid., pp. 55-56). Recorded in his correspondence with Nougé, the Belgian Surrealist poet, who was at the time one of Magritte’s closest friends, Le Traité du paysage was later given to Nougé, from whom it was subsequently acquired by Gilbert Sénécaut.
Paul Nougè describing the present work, quoted in David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), op. cit., pp. 55-56
Le Traité du paysage plays with the viewer’s perception of distance and foreground to surreal effect, creating a curious sensation of displacement. Ghostly mauve-blue hues pervade the foreground, whilst warm greens seep into the background, the change in colour and the increasing detail contributing to the overall ethereal effect of the work. Executed in 1943, during the height of the Second World War, this work puts ‘the spectator into a strange situation: his unusual way of looking at things constrains him to be at one and the same time on the extreme edge and in the extreme depths of the scene, his mind is forced into a continuous oscillation between two positions which seem incompatible and which fuse together into the paradoxical and remarkable fruitful state in which he finds himself’ (David Sylvester, Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn (eds.), op. cit., pp. 55-56). Echoes of this otherworldly gouache can be seen in another work by Magritte executed in the same year, which also draws on the remarkable idea of reversed perspective.
Imprinted with silence and mystery, this enigmatic work is devoid of any human figures and depicts a peaceful countryside scene, the central pathway leading the viewer into the vanishing far distance. Yet it is the eerie absence of aerial perspective that leads Paul Nougé, the Belgian theoretician of surrealism, to comment this: ‘there could be no stronger or more discreet attack on the substance of the visible world’ (quoted in ibid., pp. 55-56). Recorded in his correspondence with Nougé, the Belgian Surrealist poet, who was at the time one of Magritte’s closest friends, Le Traité du paysage was later given to Nougé, from whom it was subsequently acquired by Gilbert Sénécaut.