The sky blue sculptural head of a beautiful woman, eyes peacefully closed as if caught in the midst of a dream, appears as if floating midair. A reoccurring motif within Magritte's works, this sculpted visage is oftentimes associated with the human mind or memory and the fleeting or unreliable nature of our thoughts and emotions (Meuris, pg. 124).

David Sylvester and Sarah Whitfield, editors of the complete Magritte catalogue raisonne, state that the original plaster heads after which this work was modeled appear in two movies by René Magritte (Lessines, 1898 - Brussels, 1967); one of the plaster heads, unpainted, appears in the 50's, and the other, painted, appears in 1960. The casts likely come from the Maison Berger and are identical to the head used many times by René Magritte (Lessines, 1898 - Brussels, 1967) in his images of La Mémoire.(paintings: 1942, 1945, 1948, painted objects in 1942 and 1945) or the paintings Deep Waters (1941). Sylvester and Whitfield continue to state the importance of the La Mémoire works, implying that they were derived from the painting The Song of Love (1914) by Giorgio de Chirico (1888 - 1978), a work that greatly impacted Magritte and essentially molded him as a surrealist artist (Catalogue raisonne, vol. III, p. 445, N. 1080 and 1081). This image of the sculpted head of a woman captivated Magritte from the start, as he continued to transform and adapt it throughout his artistic career, ultimately creating this striking sculpture of a sculptural image.

This patinated bronze sculpture was created in 2009 after one of the two original identical versions of the plaster head created by René Magritte (Lessines, 1898 - Brussels, 1967) in the 1950s-1960. This work is numbered from the edition of 250 on the bottom of the neck and stamp signed 'Magritte' along the left side of the neck. Published by the Magritte Foundation and cast at Fonderie Bocquel, Paris, this piece is also stamp signed by the Magritte Foundation and Fonderie Bocquel, France on the bottom of the neck.

Documentation:

1. Certificate of Authenticity signed by Charly Herscovici, President of the Magritte Foundation, included with the purchase of this work.
2. Meuris, Jacques. Magritte. London: Greenwich Editions, 1988. Original paintings from which this work is derived illustrated and discussed on pages 124-125. Original cast head from which this work was based illustrated and discussed on pg. 200.
3. Whitfield, Sarah. Magritte. London: The South Bank Center, 1992. Original cast head from which this work was based illustrated and discussed as no. 165.