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This exquisite gouache was from René Magritte by the preeminent Surrealist collects or Edward James and remained in his collects ion for decades. The motif of the open door and the concept of threshold are themes that Magritte returned to often, rendered here with remarkable precision and claritys . The doorway introduces what David Sylvester has described as “a classic case of an operation which always obsessed Magritte—the concealment of one thing by another” (David Sylvester, ed., René Magritte, Catalogue Raisonné, vol. II, London, 1993, p. 176). This became a major preoccupation linking many of Magritte’s iconic paintings, from the curtains in works like L’Ovation to windows and doorways that open onto other worlds (see figs. 1 and 2).

Magritte’s surrealist imagery is deeply rooted in the exploration of what lies hidden beneath the surface of reality. In one of his few recorded interviews (Magritte detested publicity and discussions of his own work), Magritte relates that, “Everything we see hides another thing; we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible doesn’t show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is apparent” (quoted in David Sylvester, Magritte: The Silence of the World, 1992, New York, p. 24). Magritte creates this tension in La Bonne aventure through a signature paradox: we rely on a house to offer shelter from the elements, yet here, that expectation is subverted. A cloud drifts through the door, either entering or exiting, while the door itself is caught in the process of surreal transformation, changing from wood to sky or from sky to wood. The direction of the metamorphosis, much like the logic of the composition, is left deliberately unresolved.

Doorways - whether open or closed - have long served as powerful visual symbols, as well as enhancing perspective or evoking a sense of voyeurism. In both Johannes Vermeer and Vilhelm Hammershøi’s works, for example, they often act as thresholds into private spaces (see figs. 3 and 4), inviting the viewer into intimate scenes otherwise hidden from view. In contrast, the scenes revealed or concealed by doorways in Magritte's work rarely offer a personal glimpse or intrude upon a private domain. Magritte avoided specific identifying details in his imagery, even when depicting people. His figures typically possess generic features, or none at all. More often than not, their faces are obscured, whether by a glowing light emanating from the head or a mirror reflecting only the back of a head (as in his portraits of Edward James), or by an object such as the loaf of bread, rose or baguette strategically placed in front of the face of the bowler-hatted man (see figs. 5 and 6).

Edward James, heir to an American railroad fortune and an eccentric English poet, is remembered not only as a collects or of Surrealist art but also as patron to some of the movement's most influential figures. Salvador Dalí, Pavel Tchelitchew, Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington were among those given material support and studio space during extended stays in James' homes at West Dean and in London. James was introduced to Magritte by Dalí in 1937 and he immediately invited the Belgian artist to spend the winter at his Wimpole Street house in London. Over the course of two years James commissioned a number of works directly from him.

Artist

René Magritte