![[MAGRITTE RENE]: (1898-1967)](https://gcp-la8-storage-cdn.lot-art.com/la8assets/images/copyright2.png "[MAGRITTE RENE]: (1898-1967)")
[MAGRITTE RENE]: (1898-1967)
[MAGRITTE RENE]: (1898-1967) Belgian Surrealist artist. An interesting association copy of the first issue of La Carte d'après nature, the Surrealist periodical founded and edited by Magritte, in the form of a printed postcard, Jette-Brussels, October 1952. Number 1 features a whimsical printed illustration by the Belgian Surrealist Paul Colinet to the recto, depicting two objects labelled ´Chien dangereux´ and ´Clair de lune´ standing upon a box marked ´Rosiers´, and provides Magritte's editorial address at 135 Rue Esseghem, Jette-Bruxelles. The verso is entirely occupied by a printed text by Magritte explaining his contemporary artistic researches and his method of discovering unexpected poetic relationships between apparently unrelated objects. Magritte explains ´un objet, un sujet quelconque pris comme question, il s'agissait de trouver comme réponse un autre objet, attaché secrètement au premier par des liens assez complexes pour servir de vérification de la réponse. Si la réponse s'imposait, évidente, la réunion des deux objets était saisissante´ (Translation: ´an object, any subject taken as a question, required finding as an answer another object, secretly connected to the first by links complex enough to verify the answer. If the answer imposed itself as evident, the bringing together of the two objects was striking´). The artist proceeds to explain the conception of three recent paintings, Le Séducteur, Le Coup au Cœur and La Main heureuse, observing that ´Le Coup au Cœur offre comme réponse à la rose un poignard qui pousse sur la tige d'une rose´ (Translation: ´Le Coup au Cœur offers, as an answer to the rose, a dagger growing from the stem of a rose´), while the problem presented by the piano resulted in the discovery that ´l'objet secret destiné à se réunir au piano était une bague de fiançailles´ (Translation: ´the secret object destined to be united with the piano was an engagement ring´). Magritte concludes by invoking Edgar Allan Poe and contemplating whether it might be possible to create relationships between objects in which ´l'effet et la cause sont réversibles´ (Translation: ´effect and cause are reversible´). His name appears in bold type at the conclusion. The present example was hand addressed by Magritte in blue ink and mailed to the German Surrealist artist Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) at Thizy in the Rhône, his address subsequently amended in another hand in black ink and redirected to 88 Rue Mouffetard, Paris. Some very light age wear and minor creasing, otherwise VG
A particularly attractive association copy of the inaugural number of Magritte's La Carte d'après nature, sent to fellow Surrealist Hans Bellmer. Founded by Magritte in October 1952 and issued irregularly during the following years, the characteristically unconventional publication was initially produced in the diminutive form of postcards which could be distributed directly through the mail. Its contributors included leading figures of Belgian Surrealism such as Louis Scutenaire, Paul Colinet, Marcel Lecomte and E. L. T. Mesens.
The inaugural number is of particular significance for containing Magritte's own concise exposition of his artistic method. Rather than simply juxtaposing unrelated objects, Magritte describes his search for the ´secret´ relationship by which one object could provide the poetic answer to the problem posed by another. His discussion of Le Séducteur, Le Coup au Cœur and La Main heureuse therefore provides valuable contemporary testimony concerning the intellectual processes underlying some of his paintings of the period. In La Main heureuse, for example, the unexpected union of a grand piano and an enormous engagement ring provided the solution to what Magritte termed ´the problem of the piano´.
The recipient, Hans Bellmer, was one of the most distinctive artists associated with international Surrealism, celebrated particularly for his unsettling photographs and constructions of the female doll (Die Puppe). Bellmer had settled permanently in Paris after the Second World War and remained closely connected with the Surrealist milieu. The fact that Magritte's inaugural issue was actually dispatched to Bellmer provides a particularly evocative record of the circulation of Surrealist ideas and publications between two major figures of the movement.
[MAGRITTE RENE]: (1898-1967) Belgian Surrealist artist. An interesting association copy of the first issue of La Carte d'après nature, the Surrealist periodical founded and edited by Magritte, in the form of a printed postcard, Jette-Brussels, October 1952. Number 1 features a whimsical printed illustration by the Belgian Surrealist Paul Colinet to the recto, depicting two objects labelled ´Chien dangereux´ and ´Clair de lune´ standing upon a box marked ´Rosiers´, and provides Magritte's editorial address at 135 Rue Esseghem, Jette-Bruxelles. The verso is entirely occupied by a printed text by Magritte explaining his contemporary artistic researches and his method of discovering unexpected poetic relationships between apparently unrelated objects. Magritte explains ´un objet, un sujet quelconque pris comme question, il s'agissait de trouver comme réponse un autre objet, attaché secrètement au premier par des liens assez complexes pour servir de vérification de la réponse. Si la réponse s'imposait, évidente, la réunion des deux objets était saisissante´ (Translation: ´an object, any subject taken as a question, required finding as an answer another object, secretly connected to the first by links complex enough to verify the answer. If the answer imposed itself as evident, the bringing together of the two objects was striking´). The artist proceeds to explain the conception of three recent paintings, Le Séducteur, Le Coup au Cœur and La Main heureuse, observing that ´Le Coup au Cœur offre comme réponse à la rose un poignard qui pousse sur la tige d'une rose´ (Translation: ´Le Coup au Cœur offers, as an answer to the rose, a dagger growing from the stem of a rose´), while the problem presented by the piano resulted in the discovery that ´l'objet secret destiné à se réunir au piano était une bague de fiançailles´ (Translation: ´the secret object destined to be united with the piano was an engagement ring´). Magritte concludes by invoking Edgar Allan Poe and contemplating whether it might be possible to create relationships between objects in which ´l'effet et la cause sont réversibles´ (Translation: ´effect and cause are reversible´). His name appears in bold type at the conclusion. The present example was hand addressed by Magritte in blue ink and mailed to the German Surrealist artist Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) at Thizy in the Rhône, his address subsequently amended in another hand in black ink and redirected to 88 Rue Mouffetard, Paris. Some very light age wear and minor creasing, otherwise VG
A particularly attractive association copy of the inaugural number of Magritte's La Carte d'après nature, sent to fellow Surrealist Hans Bellmer. Founded by Magritte in October 1952 and issued irregularly during the following years, the characteristically unconventional publication was initially produced in the diminutive form of postcards which could be distributed directly through the mail. Its contributors included leading figures of Belgian Surrealism such as Louis Scutenaire, Paul Colinet, Marcel Lecomte and E. L. T. Mesens.
The inaugural number is of particular significance for containing Magritte's own concise exposition of his artistic method. Rather than simply juxtaposing unrelated objects, Magritte describes his search for the ´secret´ relationship by which one object could provide the poetic answer to the problem posed by another. His discussion of Le Séducteur, Le Coup au Cœur and La Main heureuse therefore provides valuable contemporary testimony concerning the intellectual processes underlying some of his paintings of the period. In La Main heureuse, for example, the unexpected union of a grand piano and an enormous engagement ring provided the solution to what Magritte termed ´the problem of the piano´.
The recipient, Hans Bellmer, was one of the most distinctive artists associated with international Surrealism, celebrated particularly for his unsettling photographs and constructions of the female doll (Die Puppe). Bellmer had settled permanently in Paris after the Second World War and remained closely connected with the Surrealist milieu. The fact that Magritte's inaugural issue was actually dispatched to Bellmer provides a particularly evocative record of the circulation of Surrealist ideas and publications between two major figures of the movement.
