René Magritte

In overall very good to fine condition, with scattered light creasing and the last page folded along a fragile perforation. This sketchbook provides fantastic insight into Magritte's creative process, with several of the images closely resembling some of his complete paintings from the 1940s—among the most recognizable are the anthropomorphized leaf as seen in 'The Tempest' (1944) and the horse from 'Pure Reason' (1948). The ghost forms that populate much of the book resemble some of his much earlier work from the late 1920s, including The Invention of Life (1928) and The Lovers I and II (1928), in which human figures are shrouded by white veils and sheets. This sketchbook also dates to the period when Magritte was experimenting with a 'Renoir' style, which he referred to as his 'Sunlit' period, in which he incorporated an impressionistic flavor into his art—a characteristic certainly present in some of these sketches. An exceptionally rare sketchbook containing a wonderful variety of the artist's original work. Provenance: Suzi Gablik..

I can’t seem to 'take' a holiday; it’s as if I’m condemned to forced labor for life. And yet you know how tired I am. My exhibition in Knokke is a 'success,' but judging by the idiotic reviews published in the newspapers, visitors who are not (with a few exceptions) smarter than 'art critics' must be stunned when looking at my paintings. The Minneapolis catalog is indeed a success. It’s good for me and for you too: will you be able to see this exhibition? H. T. will no doubt tell you that I tried driving: I bought a Lancia Flavia and after four days of experience I was disgusted with it. So I’m selling it, happy to be rid of it. Below is a sketch of a new painting." In fine condition..

April 1959) an Magritte, unterzeichnet von Remy, das über den Kurator am Ixelles Museum weitergeleitet wurde. „Mon Cher Remy | Je vous remercie de votre lettre et de votre offre d’expose un ancien tableau de moi. Ce sera si vous le voulez bien pour une autre occasion ; l’exposition actuelle au Musée d’Ixelles ne montrant que des tableaux peints entre 1926 et ces derniers temps. Si je passe un jour par La Panne, j’irai vous dire bonjour et reverrai avec plaisir ce tableau dont je n’ai plus aucun souvenir ? Bien cordialement à vous. René Magritte“ Bemerkenswerter Brief, in dem Magritte das Leihangebot eines Gemäldes dankend ablehnt. Das Gemälde mit dem Titel „Paysage“ (Landschaft) hatte er dem Architekten Remy 1922 überlassen. Da dieses Gemälde für die Retrospektive zu alt ist, lehnt Magritte den Vorschlag ab, es dort auszustellen. Er äußert aber den Wunsch, das Bild wieder sehen zu wollen, weil er sich nicht mehr daran erinnert. Der Adressat Remy lebte in De Panne, dem südlichsten Badeort an der belgischen Küste. Dort verbrachte Magritte seine Urlaube. Das Bild, über das sich Magritte mit Remy austauscht, muss vor der Zeit entstanden sein, ab der er - inspiriert von der pittura metafisica (metaphysisiche Malerei) eines Giorigio de Chirico beeinflusst - in den Surrealismus eintauchte. Erst ab 1926 war es ihm durch feste Verträge mit der Brüssler Galerie „Le Centaure“ möglich, sich ausschließlich auf die künstlerische Produktion zu konzentrieren, wobei mit „Der verlorene Jockey“ 1926 sein erstes surrealistisches Bild entstand..

In the second part of the letter, Magritte makes two architectural suggestions with sketches for the building project of a mutual friend, Castellanos. The first idea is to have "somewhere in the facade a crooked window (the rest being perfectly straight)". Secondly, Magritte suggests to add an unreachable door to the facade while concealing the actual entrance on the side. - Although surrealist architecture abounds in Magritte's paintings, there is no record of any actual building projects. Facetiously though the letter is written, Magritte would certainly have enjoyed seeing his ideas realized. - The text in full: "Nous sommes bien 'rentrés' à Nice, Georgette, Loulou et moi, en gardant le délicieux plaisir de votre accueil et du milieu splendide où vous vivez. C'est mieux qu'un rêve, heureusement... Mais je vous écris pour vous remercier mais aussi pour vous demander d'ajouter un mot au titre 'Galatée': en renvoyant le tableau nonvie ainsi par nous, j'ai pensé que le titre pourrait être: 'La Robe de Galatée' - De cette manière, d'éventuels archéologues auront de quoi 'réflechir' et vous avez, je crois, le même plaisir que moi à savoir comment Galatée pouvait s'habiller. En repensant aux possibilités architecturales que l'architecte de Castellanos ne se fait pas faute de prodiguer avec un rare bonheur, j'aimerais - si cela 'va' - que vous lui en suggeriez une, (que si je faisais bâtir, je vourdrais voir réaliser). Il s'agit de quelque chose de très simple (et qui étonnerait les entrepreneurs qui commencent pourtant à en avoir l'habitude): quelque part dans la façade, une fenêtre travers (tout le reste etant bien d'aplomb) - Dans cette ordre d'idée, il y a aussi dans une façade une porte ('en soi', non utilisable non 'pragmatique') - la porte pratique étant sur le côté - Je vous rappelle mon adresse à Bruxelles: 97 rue des mimosas [...]". - Traces of folds and minor tears..

- A letter from 22 October 1963 contains profound semiotic reflections on the relationship between image and word and the effects of the "unification" of word and image. Magritte refers to his famous text-image combinations entitled "Les Mots et les Images" from the last issue of "Révolution Surréaliste" published in 1929, underlining that he now believes that it is more accurate to say that word and image are united rather than re-united: "Depuis, c'est 'unir' qui me semble juste. Réunir obligerait de croire que les choses après avoir été 'unies' ne le seraient plus, qu'elles auraient été désunies. En somme croire à quelque chose d'indifférent". He then gives specific examples from his work such as "La Cascade" and "L'Empire des Lumières", arguing that what the painting "presupposes is partly to be defined". The pictorial representation thus "challenges thinking to be able to think (unite)", which he calls a "contraction", in the case of "L'Empire des Lumières" that of "night and day". To underline the mutual exclusion whose terms are still interdependent, Magritte quotes the Belgian surrealist writer Marcel Lecomte: "The absence of a footstep materializes". Even more dear to him was Louis Scutenaire's statement: "When I exhale I commit a crime". Inspired by his friend's semantic dramatization of something as banal and automatic as exhalation, Magritte exclaims: "What I have painted 'suffices' - What he has written 'suffices' - But not painting and not saying anything also 'suffices'. Your 'The dream requires genius' suffices as 'expression' (expression in the sense of writing, the words not saying what they designate - like in La Cascade, the images not showing what they are)". Magritte closes with the announcement of the title for a painting contributed by Scutenaire: "For a new painting (trees-orange foliage) Scut found a beautiful title: 'The princes of autumn' (which is a beginning of a precious 'commentary')". This section is accompanied by a charming little sketch of the painting. - Just a week later Magritte sent a short letter in which he corrects statements from a previous missive not part of the collection. Magritte writes that he did not express himself well when he was discussing Pierre Étaix's 1962 romantic comedy "The Suitor" and tries to characterize the humor exemplified by this film, referring to a specific scene. He also mentions Charles Muselet's 1866 collection of biographies "Portraits après déces" and a magazine, probably of a Christian cult, that he has been handed in the streets. Finally, Magritte announces that he will send Bormans a photograph of his close friend, the publisher and fellow surrealist E. T. L. Mesens (1903-71). - The latest dated letter, from 18 July 1965, is rather short but includes a charming sketch of Magritte's painting "Le Pan de Nuit" ("The patch of night"), showing a disembodied patch of long red hair in a bowler hat from behind: "The painting on which I am currently working, awaiting its title". He also reports his recovery from an illness, announces two photographs of new paintings ("Le Char de la Vierge" and "Parmi les Bosquets légers"), and recommends Proust's "Contre Saint-Beuve". - Magritte's undated letter offers recommendations for changes to a text that Bormans had written for an exhibition catalogue: "A proposition: 'to enrich our humble means in making the world known' occasions me to ask for a small change that protects the reader from contenting himself with the belief that the 'means' are to be enriched, to be perfected and that knowledge is of secondary importance. This possible misunderstanding could perhaps be avoided in saying: 'to aid our humble knowledge of the world'. The advantage of this phrasing also allows to counter the glorification of the 'means' [...]". The explanation provided for his final suggestion makes Magritte's anti-positivist stance even more explicit, as he jokes: "or another modification that does not jeopardize 'the subjectivity' that is dear to the experts of 'objectivity'!". - Four of the five letters on stationery with printed letterhead. Well preserved..