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Faithful to this «solar» style until 1947, Magritte produced around fifty paintings, as many gouaches and a considerable number of drawings. He thus illustrates Sade, G. Bataille, Eluard and Lautréamont.
His enthusiasm led him to use this inspiration to make it the project for the in-depth reform of Surrealism.
To this end, in October 1946 he sent André Breton his “Manifesto for a Surrealism in the Sun”. But Breton puts an end to this renovation program.
Magritte, in a provocative and cynical fireworks display, liquidates his «Renoir Period» to tackle as early as 1948 his «Cow Period» in which he abandons the freshness of hope for the assertive grotesque.
René Magritte (1898-1967)
The Orient - 1941 - Oil on canvas - 81 x 65 cm
Signed low left «Magritte»
Private collection
© Alessandro Fiamingo – Art Defender S.r.l. - Adagp Images, Paris, 2021