René Magritte, Le Temps menaçant (Threatening Weather)

Artist: René Magritte (1898 - 1967)
Title:Le Temps menaçant (Threatening Weather)
Medium:Color lithograph
Sheet Size:23 3/5 in x 15 3/4 in (60 cm x 40 cm)
Framed Size:approx. 35 in x 25 in (88.9 cm x 63.5 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 275 in pencil in the lower left margin.
Signature:This work is signed ‘Magritte’ in fascimile in graphite color in the lower right margin and signed in pencil in the lower left margin by the representative of ADAGP representing the Magritte Succession, Mr. Charly Hersovici.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #W-5689

Historical Description

René Magritte Le Temps menaçant (Threatening Weather), 1929 was created while Magritte was staying with Dali in Spain, this image has all the erotic and unsettling components of a work by the Spanish master. The choice of objects is all Magritte’s own. Writing about the original painting that inspired this work, Jacques Meuris notes, “Painterly skill, answering to the artist’s intention, takes precedence of the story being told. The painting simply looks at itself” (71). Meuris validates the feeling that meaning will be hard to find in this enigmatic work. A chair, a tube and a nude torso float like shapely clouds over the ocean, a recurring landscape element in the artist’s work. The tuba and unidentified figure are also common motifs that gain meaning in the wider context of Magritte’s work. Objects taken from everyday life – the human form, a place to sit, a source of music – appear as monumental shadows of themselves over an indifferent landscape. The beauty of this work lies in its ability to mean different things to each viewer.

Created after the original 1929 oil on canvas Le Temps Menaçant (Threatening Weather) by René Magritte (Lessines, 1898 - Brussels, 1967), this color lithograph was published and printed by Philippe Moreno, Paris in 2003. This work is signed ‘Magritte’ in fascimile in graphite color in the lower right margin and signed in pencil in the lower left margin by the representative of ADAGP representing the Magritte Succession, Mr. Charly Hersovici. Numbered from the edition of 275 in pencil in the lower left margin.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
René Magritte Le Temps menaçant (Threatening Weather), 1929 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoice that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Meuris, Jacques. Magritte. London: Greenwich Editions, 1988. The original oil painting is listed and discussed as no. 102 on p. 71.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, René Magritte Le Temps menaçant (Threatening Weather), 1929 is presented in a modern moulding with silk-wrapped mats and optical-grade Plexiglas.