THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
René Magritte (1898-1967)

Le retour - De terugkeer

細節
René Magritte (1898-1967)
Le retour - De terugkeer
signed 'magritte' (lower right)
gouache on paper
8 x 10 5/8in. (20.3 x 27cm.)
Executed circa 1955
With a pencil study of the same subject on the reverse
出版
D. Sylvester (ed.), S. Whitfield and M. Raeburn, René Magritte catalogue raisonné, vol. IV: gouaches, temperas, watercolours and papier-collés, 1918-1967, London, 1994, no.1397 (illustrated p. 178).
拍場告示
Please note that the original measurements are 7 1/2 x 10 in. (19 x 25.5 cm.) and not as stated in the catalogue, and that the catalogue illustration is slightly larger than the original.

拍品專文

The present gouache is based on Magritte's celebrated painting Le retour of 1940, which is now in the Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels. In a letter dated Nov. 29th 1940 addressed to Claude Spaak, Magritte provided three sketches which include a study for the present composition with the caption: Oiseau bleu avec nuages devant un ciel étoilé, à l'avant plan: nid avec des oeufs.

Although the present composition relates closely to the oil version, Magritte altered the position of the wings as well as the wall's texture which has become coarser.