Magritte, René

Original sketches for "L'Etat de Grace" [State of Grace], [1959]. 6 pages in 3 leaves (8 x 5 1/2 in.; 204 x 135 mm) containing 34 sketched versions of the final paintings plus a sketch for "Hegel's Holiday".

Suzi Gablik

D. Sylvester, Magritte, III, n°901, p. 309 - IV, n° 1458, p. 215

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In a letter of March 1959, Magritte sent a letter to Suzi Gablick about his idea of painting a bicycle ("un velocipede"). But with what could he represent a bicycle? He tried, drawing sketches on sheets of paper. A bicycle on a bone? on a match? on a leaf or on a clock? Riding on a bird. He decided on a cigar: "Since you must be aware dear Suzi that a bicycle sometimes runs over a cigar that has been dropped in the street." Magritte painted a gouache on paper, offered to Harry Torczyner, and an oil.