Abstract
Magritte’s composition La condition humaine, 1935 was found to conceal under its paint layers an entire quarter of a lost composition by the artist, until recently only known from a small black/white catalogue illustration—La pose enchantée, 1927. This study is the latest contribution to the discovery of the artist’s missing painting, now known to have been cut into four parts and re-used by Magritte as the support for new compositions. Non-destructive analytical and examination methods and specifically macroscopic X-ray fluorescence (MAXRF) scanning and conventional X-ray radiography (XRR) were the two non-destructive analytical and examination methods used to study both compositions and add to the existing knowledge on the artist’s palette during both periods. The first method is capable of identifying the presence and the distribution of key chemical elements present in artists’ materials. In some instances elemental mapping provided useful information on the hidden painting, but conventional X-ray radiography (XRR) enabled a better visualisation of the form and paint application of the underlying composition. Furthermore, the turnover edges of the canvas reveal after over 80 years the artist’s palette directly to the viewer. Additional XRF scanning of this exposed paint has confirmed and added to the existing research published to date of this lost painting, including a proposed colour reconstruction, but at the same time highlighting the need for further analytical research involving both non-destructive point analysis and the use of paint samples.
Highlights
IntroductionThe painting La condition humaine (1935, 54.2 × 73.2 × 1.6 cm, René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné [RMCR] no. 390), shown in Fig. 1 is by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte (1898–1967)
The painting La condition humaine (1935, 54.2 × 73.2 × 1.6 cm, René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné [RMCR] no. 390), shown in Fig. 1 is by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte (1898–1967).It is one of four variants entitled La condition humaine that Magritte painted between 1933 and 1935 (RMCR no. 351, 372 and 387) [1]
In February 2016, the painting underwent a routine examination following the request for loan to the exhibition La trahison des images, at the Pompidou Centre/ Paris, (September 2016 to January 2017). At this point conservators noticed that the turnover edges of the canvas extended onto the reverse and were painted with a scheme that did not correspond to the composition on the front (Fig. 2a)
Summary
The painting La condition humaine (1935, 54.2 × 73.2 × 1.6 cm, René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné [RMCR] no. 390), shown in Fig. 1 is by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte (1898–1967). 390), shown in Fig. 1 is by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte (1898–1967) It is one of four variants entitled La condition humaine that Magritte painted between 1933 and 1935 There are well documented examples of Magritte himself undertaking such practices.1 Whilst noting this as an interesting find, a closer inspection of the edges of the painting revealed a much more exciting connection. In this case, the colours exposed seemed to relate to a recently discovered painting by the artist, La pose enchantée, dating from 1927, illustrated in the Catalogue Raisonné In 2013, a quarter of Magritte’s La pose enchantée was discovered below another painting by the artist in the
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