René Magritte Lithographs

M AGRIT TE goldmark

To be a surrealist means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been.

RenĂŠ Magritte

1. front cover: Ma Mère l'Oye lithograph by Magritte 30.5 x 45.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ2500

LES ENFANTS TROUVÉS TWELVE LITHOGRAPHS

Magritte’s graphic work is scarce, with only five works created during his lifetime - two lithographs and three etchings - where he personally worked the plates or stones. In addition there were another fifteen etchings drawn on the plate in collaboration with the master printer George Visat but several of these were published posthumously.

The suite offered here comprises twelve coloured lithographs, four of which, Ma Mère l’Oye, Pierreries, La Belle Captive and La Traversée Difficile were created specifically for Les Enfants Trouvés by Magritte but executed posthumously in 1968 by the renowned fine art printer Fernand Mourlot in Paris.

The remaining eight, from a work entitled the Domaine Enchanté, are after murals which he painted for the Municipal Casino at Knokke-le-Zoute in Belgium.

René Magritte self portrait

The suite was limited to a numbered edition of 350 copies, of which this is number 302, plus a few further copies for Magritte’s collaborators. Each lithograph is signed in pencil by Fernand Mourlot and in the stone by Magritte. They are printed on Vélin d’Arches art paper.

We have never seen this suite before and have only one copy of each lithograph.

℡ 01572 821424 prices include frame, vat and uk delivery

2.

La TraversĂŠe Difficile lithograph by Magritte 30.5 x 45.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1750

RENÉ MAGRITTE

A truly poetic canvas is an awakened dream. René Magritte

A seminal figure in Surrealism and arguably the greatest Belgian painter of the 20th century Magritte studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, 1916-18. His earliest paintings were broadly impressionistic but the first works he exhibited, in 1919, were printed posters, a typical example being a colour lithograph, conventionally realist in style, entitled Pot-au-Feu Derbaix. During the early 1920s Magritte was experimenting with various artistic styles and for a time he was influenced by both Futurism and Cubism. Some of his prints and paintings came close to formal abstraction and it was only after seeing a reproduction of Giorgio de Chirico’s painting Song of Love in 1922 that Magritte decided to reintroduce more overt imagery into his work.

of advertising. However his experience of making posters and commercial adverts meant that the combination of images with text began to appear in some of his paintings, a well-known example being Treachery of Images (1928-29) depicting a pipe accompanied by the words Ceci n’est pas une pipe.

During the period 1926-30 Magritte was deeply involved with the foundation and running of the Belgian Surrealist Group and the formulation of their theories which, interestingly, were worked out independently from those of the more famous French Group with whom he eventually collaborated.

Magritte continued to produce printed work throughout the 1920s and 30s but mainly in the world

It is perhaps worth noting Magritte’s own thoughts concerning the meaning of his Surrealist pictures of which he said, my painting is visible images which conceals nothing . . . they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question ‘What does it mean?’ It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.

Magritte held his first solo show in 1927 in Brussels exhibiting his Surrealist work and from around that time he also started to introduce some of his ‘signature’ figures, for example ‘the man in the bowler hat’ who, amongst many other works, later appears in one of the lithographs in the series Les Enfants Trouvés. It is important to note that Magritte’s graphic work, beyond the world of posters and advertising, in the form of fine art prints is extremely scarce.

3.

Une Jeune Femme PrĂŠsente avec Grace . . . lithograph after Magritte 32 x 45cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1500

4.

Un Séduisant Navire d'Eau de Mer. . . lithograph after Magritte 32 x 45cm, signed in plate

£1750

℡ 01572 821424 prices include frame, vat and uk delivery

5.

Pierreries lithograph by Magritte 30.5 x 45cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1750

6.

Il y a sur le Rivage de la Mer Deux Pommes Visiteuses . . . lithograph after Magritte 27.5 x 48.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1500 www.goldmarkart.com

7.

Les Grands Oiseaux sont Ceux de l'Ile au TrĂŠsor lithograph after Magritte 31.5 x 48cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1500

8.

Les Claires-Voies d'un Jeune Regard Embaument la FĂŞte d'un Vieil Arbre . . . lithograph after Magritte, 28.5 x 48.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1750 www.goldmarkart.com

9.

Une Porte s'Ouvre sur la Nuit VeloutĂŠe . . . lithograph after Magritte 27 x 47.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1500

10.

Un Bombardon Libère son Bouquet de Flammes . . . lithograph after Magritte 30.5 x 45cm, signed in plate

£1750

℡ 01572 821424 prices include frame, vat and uk delivery

11.

La Belle Captive lithograph by Magritte 30.5 x 45.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ2000

Goldmark Gallery Uppingham Rutland LE15 9SQ

01572 821424

Open Monday to Saturday 9.30-5.30, Sunday 2.30-5.30 and Bank Holidays www.goldmarkart.com info@goldmarkart.com

12. back cover: Deux Tourterelles, dans la Chaude PĂŠnombre de Leur Maison . . . lithograph after Magritte 32 x 43.5cm, signed in plate

ÂŁ1750

M AGRITTE goldmark