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Lot Essay
'ABRITé DU LARGE PAR UN GRAND RIDEAU, UN SéDUISANT NAVIRE D'EAU DE MER RACONTE SES VOYAGES à UNE SIRèNE RENVERSéE' (P. COLINET, OP. CIT.)
PLEASE SEE SEPARATE CATALOGUE FOR FULL ENTRY
"SHELTERED FROM THE OPEN SEA BY A GREAT CURTAIN, A SEDUCTIVE SEA-WATER SHIP RELATES ITS JOURNEY TO AN INVERTED MERMAID."
THE THEME OF THIS PAINTING IS ONE OF THE STARTLING SURPRISES POSSIBLE THROUGH SIMPLE INVERSION. AGAINST A CURTAINED BACKDROP, THE SILHOUETTE OF A SAILING SHIP DISPLAYS THE RIPPLES OF THE SURFACE OF THE SEA AND AN INVERTED MERMAID SITS LIKE A SIREN ON A ROCK IN THE MIDST OF A DESERT LANDSCAPE. THE IMAGE OF THE SHIP MADE OF SEA WAS USED BY MAGRITTE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ALTHOUGH IN THE 1953 CATALOGUE FOR LE DOMAIN ENCHANTé, HE CREDITS LE SEDUCTEUR EXECUTED IN 1953 AS BEING THE SOLE SOURCE FOR THIS PAINTING. THE MERMAID RELATES TO THE 1934 PAINTING, L'INVENTION COLLECTIVE OF WHICH HE WROTE, "COLLECTION INVENTION, IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF THE SEA: ON THE BEACH I LAID A SIREN, THE TOP PART OF WHOSE BODY IS THAT OF A FISH, WHILE THE BOTTOM PART CONSISTS OF THE BELLY AND LEGS OF A WOMAN." (OP. CIT., 'LA LIGNE DE VIE', P. 47). GIVEN THE TITLES OF THESE TWO WORKS THERE IS ALSO ONE OTHER INVERSION, FOR AS COLINET'S POETIC DESCRIPTION POINTS OUT, IN THIS PAINTING IT IS THE SIREN WHO IS BEING SEDUCED BY THE SHIP WITH TALES OF THE SEA, AND NOT, AS IS USUAL IN MYTHOLOGY, THE OTHER WAY ROUND.
PLEASE SEE SEPARATE CATALOGUE FOR FULL ENTRY
"SHELTERED FROM THE OPEN SEA BY A GREAT CURTAIN, A SEDUCTIVE SEA-WATER SHIP RELATES ITS JOURNEY TO AN INVERTED MERMAID."
THE THEME OF THIS PAINTING IS ONE OF THE STARTLING SURPRISES POSSIBLE THROUGH SIMPLE INVERSION. AGAINST A CURTAINED BACKDROP, THE SILHOUETTE OF A SAILING SHIP DISPLAYS THE RIPPLES OF THE SURFACE OF THE SEA AND AN INVERTED MERMAID SITS LIKE A SIREN ON A ROCK IN THE MIDST OF A DESERT LANDSCAPE. THE IMAGE OF THE SHIP MADE OF SEA WAS USED BY MAGRITTE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ALTHOUGH IN THE 1953 CATALOGUE FOR LE DOMAIN ENCHANTé, HE CREDITS LE SEDUCTEUR EXECUTED IN 1953 AS BEING THE SOLE SOURCE FOR THIS PAINTING. THE MERMAID RELATES TO THE 1934 PAINTING, L'INVENTION COLLECTIVE OF WHICH HE WROTE, "COLLECTION INVENTION, IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF THE SEA: ON THE BEACH I LAID A SIREN, THE TOP PART OF WHOSE BODY IS THAT OF A FISH, WHILE THE BOTTOM PART CONSISTS OF THE BELLY AND LEGS OF A WOMAN." (OP. CIT., 'LA LIGNE DE VIE', P. 47). GIVEN THE TITLES OF THESE TWO WORKS THERE IS ALSO ONE OTHER INVERSION, FOR AS COLINET'S POETIC DESCRIPTION POINTS OUT, IN THIS PAINTING IT IS THE SIREN WHO IS BEING SEDUCED BY THE SHIP WITH TALES OF THE SEA, AND NOT, AS IS USUAL IN MYTHOLOGY, THE OTHER WAY ROUND.