René Magritte, Time Transfixed

Artist: René Magritte (1898 - 1967)
Title:Time Transfixed
Medium:Color Lithograph
Image 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-5558

Historical Description

René Magritte La Durée poignardée (Time Transfixed); Translating literally from the French to "ongoing time stabbed by a dagger," the title of this work speaks to Magritte's intentions in creating the piece. The artist had hoped that the artwork, commissioned by a private collector, would be installed at the foot of a staircase in the collector's home; visitors ascending to the ballroom on the next floor would thus be visually stabbed by the painting. Our lithograph is as visually arresting as the artist intended. The blank grey room reflected in the mirror above the fireplace lends the scene an eerie quality. The steam train emerging from vent that would normally connect to a stove is not so random. "Not only does the opening in a fireplace suggest the mouth of a railway tunnel but the steam engine and the fireplace are both activated by fuel," writes Sarah Whitfield.

Created after the 1938 original oil on canvas La Durée poignardée (Time Transfixed) by René Magritte (1898-1967), this color lithograph was published and printed by Philippe Moreno, Paris in 2010. 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 La Durée poignardée (Time Transfixed) is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
René Magritte La Durée poignardée (Time Transfixed) is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.