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Lot Essay
'A man asked me again yesterday: "What painting is it which expresses happiness?" In spite of my good will I was unable to make him understand that it was a painting which he was happy to look at.' (Magritte, quoted in Suzi Gablik, Magritte, London, 1992, p. 146.)
Although the large part of La source is an attractive landscape painted with the broad brushstrokes and palette of the Impressionist style, the colossal leaf which juts out from the tree and dominates the upper half of the painting identifies this painting as the work of René Magritte. Executed in 1944, La Source dates from Magritte's so-called 'Impressionist' period, during which he adopted the style of that earlier movement, while retaining his own individual iconography. He whimsically referred to these paintings as 'Surrealism in full sunlight' (Magritte, letter to G. Puel, March 8, 1955, quoted in H. Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, trans. Richard Miller, New York, 1977, p.186).
The dramatic change in his style was ill-received at the time - Magritte's admirers felt deceived by paintings which did not fulfil their expectations. There was some question of capitulation in his art, that Magritte had surrendered to a standard bourgeois aesthetic. Indeed, Magritte had to write in 1946 to explain himself to the "Pope" of Surrealism, André Breton, to answer reproaches incurred by his turn to Impressionism. However, it is all too clear from works like La source that there was no defeat in Magritte's oeuvre at this time, but rather a gymnastic outmanoeuvring of what were perhaps his viewers' rather complacent expectations. After all, La source, like the rest of Magritte's work, would hardly be subversive if it contained no surprises. His aim in art was precisely to shock the viewer into recognition of the real.
La source is a personal record of Arlette's relationship with her uncle, as it was given to her by Magritte as a gift of her confirmation. This adds an extra layer of significance to this work and especially its levity. La source was not merely a choice of motif and style, but a choice of gift, a glimpse of the personal side of Magritte's life over which he usually maintained such an opaque veil of discretion.
Although the large part of La source is an attractive landscape painted with the broad brushstrokes and palette of the Impressionist style, the colossal leaf which juts out from the tree and dominates the upper half of the painting identifies this painting as the work of René Magritte. Executed in 1944, La Source dates from Magritte's so-called 'Impressionist' period, during which he adopted the style of that earlier movement, while retaining his own individual iconography. He whimsically referred to these paintings as 'Surrealism in full sunlight' (Magritte, letter to G. Puel, March 8, 1955, quoted in H. Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, trans. Richard Miller, New York, 1977, p.186).
The dramatic change in his style was ill-received at the time - Magritte's admirers felt deceived by paintings which did not fulfil their expectations. There was some question of capitulation in his art, that Magritte had surrendered to a standard bourgeois aesthetic. Indeed, Magritte had to write in 1946 to explain himself to the "Pope" of Surrealism, André Breton, to answer reproaches incurred by his turn to Impressionism. However, it is all too clear from works like La source that there was no defeat in Magritte's oeuvre at this time, but rather a gymnastic outmanoeuvring of what were perhaps his viewers' rather complacent expectations. After all, La source, like the rest of Magritte's work, would hardly be subversive if it contained no surprises. His aim in art was precisely to shock the viewer into recognition of the real.
La source is a personal record of Arlette's relationship with her uncle, as it was given to her by Magritte as a gift of her confirmation. This adds an extra layer of significance to this work and especially its levity. La source was not merely a choice of motif and style, but a choice of gift, a glimpse of the personal side of Magritte's life over which he usually maintained such an opaque veil of discretion.