546 - René Magritte (1898, Lessines, Hainaut – Brussels, 1967)

René Magritte (1898, Lessines, Hainaut – Brussels, 1967) Letter to Paul Éluard dated November 27, 1951, regarding “Le problème de la rose” Ballpoint pen on letterhead, written on both sides and featuring drawings. 1951. Approx. 21 x 27 cm. Dated “Nov. 27, 1951” in the upper left corner and signed on the reverse. A photographic appraisal is currently being prepared by the Comité Magritte, Brussels. The work is being registered in the archive. • Exceptional artist’s letter to the Surrealist poet Paul Éluard • Featuring hand-drawn sketches related to the creation of Magritte’s famous painting “Le coup au cœur” (1952) • A fascinating insight into Magritte’s artistic creative process, documented in detail in the catalog raisonné This letter to the poet Paul Éluard, accompanied by hand-drawn sketches, offers an exceptionally direct insight into René Magritte’s artistic creative process. On November 27, 1951, the artist wrote to his friend about a question that had been on his mind for about two months: what he referred to as the “problem of the rose.” Magritte describes how he is searching for a visual solution and illustrates his thoughts with several small drawings. The starting point is a rose from whose stem a diagonal line extends. In his sketches, this line takes on various forms until he finally recognizes it as a dagger. In this way, Magritte finds that surprising connection between beauty and threat, which takes shape a short time later in his painting “Le coup au cœur” (1952, Sylvester 777). The letter itself makes it clear that the juxtaposition of a rose and a dagger was not an entirely new idea for Magritte. The artist refers to his 1943 painting “Le retour de flamme,” in which he draws on a well-known depiction of the fictional criminal Fantômas. Magritte replaces the bloody dagger that Fantômas holds in his hand in the original book illustration with a rose. Eight years later, he returns to this motif and develops it in the opposite direction: now the rose itself is associated with a dagger. What is particularly striking is that the letter not only describes this train of thought but also makes it immediately visible in the accompanying drawings. By stating that the rose is “fragrant air” yet at the same time “cruel,” Magritte captures the contradiction underlying his visual concept. The letter also shows that the concept for the painting had already taken shape by November 1951, although its final title had not yet been decided. Magritte explicitly asks Éluard for a beautiful title for the planned painting. It was not until the spring of 1952, at the suggestion of Paul Nougé, that it was given the title “Le coup au cœur.” The letter is thus an important written and drawn record of the creation of one of Magritte’s signature motifs. Its art-historical significance is underscored by the catalogue raisonné, which discusses the letter in detail and reproduces two of the drawings it contains. Bibliography: Sylvester, David (ed.), René Magritte. Catalogue raisonné. Oil Paintings, Objects, and Bronzes 1949–1967, Vol. III, London 1993, pp. 196–97, cat. no. 777, with two illustrations of drawings from the letter on p. 197. Provenance: Paul Éluard (1895–1952); In private collection for decades, southern Germany. Taxation: subject to differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).