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Lot Essay
'LES CLAIRES VOIES D'UN JEUNE REGARD EMBAUMENT LA FêTE D'UN VIEIL ARBRE. UNE CHAISE LéGENDAIRE SE COMPLAîT à S'INVENTER. LA MONTAGNE à DEMI CACHéE EST EN TRAVAIL DE SES AILES' (P. COLINET, OP. CIT)
PLEASE SEE SEPARATE CATALOGUE FOR FULL ENTRY
THE LATTICE-WORK OF A YOUNG GAZE SCENTS THE FESTIVITY OF AN OLD TREE. A LEGENDARY CHAIR DELIGHTS IN INVENTING ITSELF. THE HALF-HIDDEN MOUNTAIN IS GIVING BIRTH TO ITS WINGS.
LIKE SO MANY OF MAGRITTE'S IMAGES, THE MOTIFS USED IN THIS PAINTING ARE ALL SELF-TRANSFORMATORY ONES. THE TREE HAS TRANSFORMED ITSELF INTO A WITNESS, THE CHAIR HAS RATHER COMICALLY REPLICATED ITSELF AND THE MOUNTAIN SEEMS TO BE BECOMING A BIRD. HOWEVER, THE NOTIONS OF WEIGHT OR HEAVINESS ARE ALSO EXPRESSED IN THIS WORK IN THE USE OF THE BIRD-MOUNTAIN FROM LE DOMAINE D'ARNHEIM PAINTINGS AND THE GIANT STONE CHAIR FROM LA LéGENDE DE SIèCLES.
THE PARADOXICAL IMAGE OF AN EAGLE-SHAPED MOUNTAIN SPREADING ITS WINGS WAS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS MAGRITTE FOUND TO EXPRESS THE HEAVINESS OF STONE. BY GIVING STONE THE APPEARANCE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS HE SOUGHT TO INVOKE A POETIC DIMENSION AS A DIRECT CONTRAST TO THE PHYSICAL DIMENSION OUTLINED BY MODERN SCIENCE. AS HE WROTE TO ANDRé BOSMANS IN 1961 ON THIS SUBJECT, "IT IS HEAVINESS THAT IS SUGGESTED AND NOT ITS LAWS; IT IS SUGGESTED WITHOUT PHYSICS". IN OTHER PAINTINGS SUCH AS LA BATAILLE DE L'ARGONNE AND LE CHâTEAU DES PYRéNéES BOTH OF 1959, MAGRITTE EXPRESSED THE SAME NOTION IN A MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD MANNER BY DEPICTING A NUMBER OF ROCKS ACTIVELY DEFYING GRAVITY AND FLOATING IN MID-AIR.
THE DEPICTION OF THE HUGE MONOLITHIC CHAIR WITH ITS TINY OFFSPRING, IS A DELIBERATE PARODY OF SCALE THAT ALSO MAKES FUN OF THE VERY FUNCTION OF A CHAIR BY HAVING THE OTHER CHAIR SET ON TOP OF IT - A CHAIR SITTING ON A CHAIR. AS WITH THE BIRD-MOUNTAIN, EXCESSIVE HEAVINESS IS CONTRASTED BY EXTREME LIGHTNESS IN THE FORM OF THIS TINY WOODEN CHAIR. THIS SCENE IS WITNESSED FROM THE WINGS BY A TREE - SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE PAINTING ALICE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES - THAT HAS GROWN A FACE.
"PUSHED FROM THE EARTH TOWARDS THE SUN, A TREE IS AN IMAGE OF CERTAIN HAPPINESS. TO PERCEIVE THIS WE MUST BE IMMOBILE LIKE A TREE, WHEN WE ARE MOVING, IT IS THE TREE THAT BECOMES THE SPECTATOR. IT IS WITNESS, EQUALLY, IN THE SHAPE OF CHAIRS, TABLES AND DOORS TO THE MORE OR LESS AGITATED SPECTACLE OF OUR LIFE". (MAGRITTE, QUOTED IN: L. SCUTENAIRE, MAGRITTE, 1947, P. 69).
PLEASE SEE SEPARATE CATALOGUE FOR FULL ENTRY
THE LATTICE-WORK OF A YOUNG GAZE SCENTS THE FESTIVITY OF AN OLD TREE. A LEGENDARY CHAIR DELIGHTS IN INVENTING ITSELF. THE HALF-HIDDEN MOUNTAIN IS GIVING BIRTH TO ITS WINGS.
LIKE SO MANY OF MAGRITTE'S IMAGES, THE MOTIFS USED IN THIS PAINTING ARE ALL SELF-TRANSFORMATORY ONES. THE TREE HAS TRANSFORMED ITSELF INTO A WITNESS, THE CHAIR HAS RATHER COMICALLY REPLICATED ITSELF AND THE MOUNTAIN SEEMS TO BE BECOMING A BIRD. HOWEVER, THE NOTIONS OF WEIGHT OR HEAVINESS ARE ALSO EXPRESSED IN THIS WORK IN THE USE OF THE BIRD-MOUNTAIN FROM LE DOMAINE D'ARNHEIM PAINTINGS AND THE GIANT STONE CHAIR FROM LA LéGENDE DE SIèCLES.
THE PARADOXICAL IMAGE OF AN EAGLE-SHAPED MOUNTAIN SPREADING ITS WINGS WAS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS MAGRITTE FOUND TO EXPRESS THE HEAVINESS OF STONE. BY GIVING STONE THE APPEARANCE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS HE SOUGHT TO INVOKE A POETIC DIMENSION AS A DIRECT CONTRAST TO THE PHYSICAL DIMENSION OUTLINED BY MODERN SCIENCE. AS HE WROTE TO ANDRé BOSMANS IN 1961 ON THIS SUBJECT, "IT IS HEAVINESS THAT IS SUGGESTED AND NOT ITS LAWS; IT IS SUGGESTED WITHOUT PHYSICS". IN OTHER PAINTINGS SUCH AS LA BATAILLE DE L'ARGONNE AND LE CHâTEAU DES PYRéNéES BOTH OF 1959, MAGRITTE EXPRESSED THE SAME NOTION IN A MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD MANNER BY DEPICTING A NUMBER OF ROCKS ACTIVELY DEFYING GRAVITY AND FLOATING IN MID-AIR.
THE DEPICTION OF THE HUGE MONOLITHIC CHAIR WITH ITS TINY OFFSPRING, IS A DELIBERATE PARODY OF SCALE THAT ALSO MAKES FUN OF THE VERY FUNCTION OF A CHAIR BY HAVING THE OTHER CHAIR SET ON TOP OF IT - A CHAIR SITTING ON A CHAIR. AS WITH THE BIRD-MOUNTAIN, EXCESSIVE HEAVINESS IS CONTRASTED BY EXTREME LIGHTNESS IN THE FORM OF THIS TINY WOODEN CHAIR. THIS SCENE IS WITNESSED FROM THE WINGS BY A TREE - SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE PAINTING ALICE AU PAYS DES MERVEILLES - THAT HAS GROWN A FACE.
"PUSHED FROM THE EARTH TOWARDS THE SUN, A TREE IS AN IMAGE OF CERTAIN HAPPINESS. TO PERCEIVE THIS WE MUST BE IMMOBILE LIKE A TREE, WHEN WE ARE MOVING, IT IS THE TREE THAT BECOMES THE SPECTATOR. IT IS WITNESS, EQUALLY, IN THE SHAPE OF CHAIRS, TABLES AND DOORS TO THE MORE OR LESS AGITATED SPECTACLE OF OUR LIFE". (MAGRITTE, QUOTED IN: L. SCUTENAIRE, MAGRITTE, 1947, P. 69).