René Magritte (1898-1967)

Details

René Magritte (1898-1967)

Le Monde poétique II

signed lower right magritte, oil on canvas
25¾ x 21¼in. (65 x 54cm.)

Painted in 1937

Provenance

Edward James, London
Acquavella Gallery, New York, bought from the above, 1979
Daniel Malingue, Paris

Literature

D. Sylvester, René Magritte, catalogue raisonné, oil paintings and objects, 1931-1948, London, 1993, vol. II, no. 435 (illustrated p. 243)

Exhibited

Worthing, Worthing Art Gallery, Paintings from the Collection of Edward James, 1963, no. 16
Durham, Durham Surrealist Festival, 18 Nov.-3 Dec. 1968
London, Marlborough Fine Art, Magritte, Retrospective exhibition, 27 Oct.-28 Nov. 1973, no. 47
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edward James Collection, 12 Aug.-12 Sept. 1976, no. 42

Lot Essay

This painting is the second version of Magritte's Le Monde poétique of 1926. It was commissioned by Edward James after he had seen the first version at the London Gallery in January 1937, in an exhibition of Young Belgian Artists. It was completed by the May of the same year along with La Reproduction Interdite, Magritte's famous painting of Edward James, both of them having been commissioned during Magritte's stay in London.

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