LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

44.88 in. (114.00 cm.) (height) by 57.48 in. (146.00 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed 'Magritte' (lower right); signed, dated and titled 'LA CORDE SENSIBLE Magritte 1960' (on the reverse)

Exhibited:

Charleroi, XXXVème Salon, Trente ans de Peinture belge, 1920-1950, March 1961, no. 15. Vienna, Kunstlerhaus, Surrealismus: Phantastische Malerei der Gegenwart, May - July 1962, no. 110. Arnhem, Gemeentemuseum, Werkelijkheid en Verbeelding: belgische surrealisten, July - September 1964, no. 42. Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, De Generatie van 1900: Animisten-Surrealisten, February - April 1966, no. 209, p. 271 (illustrated). Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Rétrospective Magritte,  October - December 1978, no. 165 (illustrated); this exhibition later travelled to Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, January - April 1979. New York, Arnold Herstand & Company, René Magritte, November - December 1986, p. 46 (illustrated; dated ‘1955’). Lausanne, Fondation de l’Hermitage, René Magritte, June - October 1987, no. 105, p. 204 (illustrated). Munich, Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, René Magritte, November 1987 - February 1988, no. 112, p. 280 (illustrated). Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Magritte, June - October 1996, no. 97, p. 175 (illustrated). Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, René Magritte 1898-1967, March - June 1998, no. 203, p. 203 (illustrated). Humlebaek, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, René Magritte, August - November 1999, no. 68, p. 80 (illustrated p. 71); this exhibition later travelled to Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, December 1999 - March 2000. San Francisco, Museum of Modern Art, Magritte, May - September 2000, no. 57, p. 104 (illustrated). Paris, Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Magritte, February - June 2003, p. 208 (illustrated p. 209).

Literature:

Letter from René Magritte to André Bosmans, 26 July 1960, in R. Magritte, Lettres à André Bosmans, 1958-1967, Seghers, 1990, pp. 121-125 (related sketches illustrated). Letter from René Magritte to André Bosmans, 12 August 1960, in R. Magritte, Lettres à André Bosmans, 1958-1967, Seghers, 1990, p. 126. Letter from René Magritte to Achille Chavée, 20 August 1960. Rhétorique, no. 3, Tilleur-lez-Liège, September 1961 (illustrated pl. 24). P. Waldberg, René Magritte, Brussels, 1965, pp. 261 & 351 (illustrated p. 261; dated ‘1955’). J. Meuris, Magritte, Woodstock, New York, 1990, no. 232, p. 157 (illustrated). S. Gablik, Magritte, New York, 1992, p. 112 (illustrated; dated ‘1955’). H. Torczyner, L’ami Magritte, Antwerp, 1992, p. 218 (illustrated). D. Sylvester, ed., René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné, vol. III, Oil Paintings, Objects and Bronzes 1949-1967, London, 1993, no. 915, pp. 330-331 (illustrated p. 330 & related sketches illustrated pp. 330-331). S. Gohr, Magritte: Attempting the Impossible, New York, 2009, no. 405, p. 297 (illustrated p. 296).

Provenance:

Renée Lachowsky, Brussels, by whom acquired directly from the artist between 1962 and 1964, and thence by descent. Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, London, 4 December 1984, lot 60. Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 13 May 1986, lot 41A. Ronald Winston, New York, by whom acquired at the above sale. Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1990.