L'Oeil (The Eye)

Signed in heliogravure "Magritte" lower right. Numbered in pencil "47/150" lower left. Impression from the edition of 150 on Japon nacré paper, aside from an edition of 150 on Velin de Rives paper, an edition of 25 "hors commerce" on Japon nacré, an edition of 25 "hors commerce" on Vélin de Rives paper, and a small number of artist’s proofs. Printed at the Atelier Georges Visat, Paris, by Georges Visat (after a color sketch by the artist). Plate II (of four), illustrating the volume of poetry, Le Lien de Paille, by Louis Scutenaire. In excellent condition. Catalogue reference: Kaplan & Baum 17

The Surrealist artist René Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium on November 12, 1898. He briefly studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels where he was influenced by the French Cubist and Italian Futurist styles. In 1925, his exposure to The Song of Love by Giorgio de Chirico inspired Magritte to produce his first Surrealist painting Le jockey perdu (The Lost Jockey) in 1926.

Disappointed by the critiques of his first solo-exhibition in Brussels in 1927, Magritte and his wife moved to a suburb of Paris and joined the French Surrealist group led by André Breton. Magritte remained in Paris for three years but in 1930 he returned to Brussels, where he painted daily in his dining room and met weekly with a small circle of Belgian Surrealist artists including, writer Louis Scuténaire, philosopher Paul Nougé, art dealer Édouard L.T. Mesens, musician André Souris, and the poet Marcel Lecomte, among others.

Magritte’s mature style was characterized by everyday objects placed in surprising juxtapositions to overthrow our sense of the familiar. He created mysterious interactions to focus the viewer’s attention on art as a means of representation. Magritte refused the title of “artist” but considered himself “a man who thought” and communicated those thoughts with images.

In the 1950s, Magritte gained international recognition as one of the premier Surrealist painters. In the decade before his death he began a series of projects including casting bronze sculptures, painting murals and printmaking with the intention of producing a large body of work in these applied media. René Magritte died at the age of 68, in his home in Brussels on August 15, 1967.