Lot Essay
La Lectrice Soumise was painted during the 'heroic period' of Surrealism. From 1928 Magritte was living in Paris among its most militant exponents: Breton, Aragon, Tanguy, Dalí and Goemans. Under their influence the majority of his paintings from 1925 to 1930 - a period which Magritte referred to as 'Cavernous' - are melodramatic, bizarre scenes, cloaked in irony and usually tinged with eroticism. His obsession with reproducing images from sources in popular art and developing them into quintessentially Surreal images was inspired by a desire to challenge the conventional view of everyday things. Startled gestures and fearful expressions are typical features of the subjects in Magritte's paintings of the late 1920s. Images borrowed straight from pulp fiction, they were specifically intended to be disturbing. David Sylvester used La Lectrice Soumise as an example when he wrote, "L'art de Magritte est également rempli de références à l'art populaire ou à l'art quotidien: aux abécédaires des enfants par exemple ... aux enseignes de magasins ... ou encore aux couvertures des illustrés populaire ... Magritte semble aussi s'être inspiré d'images d'art populaires, les utilisant comme modèles pour ses images, mais sans vouloir necessairement rendre la référence évidente. On a souvent cité comme source de L'assassin menacé une photographie tirée de Fantomas, le film de Feuillade. Il semble probable que Magritte ait utilisé de façon similaire des cartes postales érotiques" (D. Sylvester, "Portraits de Magritte", op. cit). Sylvester suggests that La Lectrice Soumise could easily have been inspired by a contemporary postcard (see fig. 1).
This work was probably acquired by E. L. T. Mesens from P. G. Van Hecke, the owner of Galerie Le Centaure, during the early 1930s. Van Hecke had become Magritte's dealer in 1926 and was responsible for his first one-man show. When Le Centaure's stock was liquidated in 1932 Mesens bought a number of works. E. L. T. Mesens, Magritte's oldest friend and collaborator, was known to be one of his staunchest supporters and even for a time his agent and publicist. He sold this work to the celebrated Italian artist Enrico Baj in the early 1960s.
This work was probably acquired by E. L. T. Mesens from P. G. Van Hecke, the owner of Galerie Le Centaure, during the early 1930s. Van Hecke had become Magritte's dealer in 1926 and was responsible for his first one-man show. When Le Centaure's stock was liquidated in 1932 Mesens bought a number of works. E. L. T. Mesens, Magritte's oldest friend and collaborator, was known to be one of his staunchest supporters and even for a time his agent and publicist. He sold this work to the celebrated Italian artist Enrico Baj in the early 1960s.