René Magritte

Mrs Van Den Broeck, Brussels (acquired from the artist)
Guy Pieters Gallery, Deurle (acquired from the above in 1994)
Private Collection, Belgium (acquired from the above)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 3rd May 2006, lot 39
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

David Sylvester (ed.), Sarah Whitfield & Michael Raeburn, René Magritte. Catalogue Raisonné Supplement, London, 1997, vol. V, no. 1394a, illustrated p. 70

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, T-hinged to the mount along the top edge. There are remnants of tape from previous mounting on the reverse of all four edges. Apart from some very slight discolouration, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate, although fresher and brighter in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The subject of the apple appears throughout Magritte's work in various contexts: sometimes grotesquely enlarged to fill an entire room, sometimes fossilised into stone, or appearing in a portrait, replacing the face of a sitter. This simple everyday object, often associated with the traditional genre of still-life, is thus transformed into an inexplicable image. In La Valse hésitation, two large apples are seen in an empty landscape. By replacing what otherwise would have been two human heads, the apples serve as protagonists of Magritte's favourite theme, that of hiding or obscuring human beings, and rendering them as faceless figures whose individuality remains a mystery to the viewer. Magritte plays visually upon the erotic associations of the apple as a symbol of carnal knowledge, and the tantalising appeal of a disguised object of desire, giving the apples a curiously and seductively human aspect.

 

The image of the masked apple first appeared in Magritte's design for the cover of View of December 1946 (D. Sylvester, op. cit., no. 1196). In the following years he executed several oil and gouache versions of the image containing two apples, the first of which was an oil of 1950 (ibid., no. 726). This group of works can be divided into those set against a day-time sky, including the work, usually titled La Valse hésitation, and those with the night sky titled Le Prêtre marié. This subject also appears in Magritte's mural for the Knokke-le-Zoute Casino Communal, La Domaine enchantée of 1953 (ibid., no. 792). The dramatically coloured background and the wood-like colour of the surface on which the apples are resting, are simplified to the point of resembling a stage set rather than a landscape, thus adding to the theatrical atmosphere of the scene already suggested by the masks.