Les Bijoux Indiscrets. The Indiscreet Jewels. by René Magritte, 1898-1967

René Magritte, 1898-1967
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Les Bijoux Indiscrets. The Indiscreet Jewels.

Original lithograph in colours. 1963. Signed in pencil. Numbered in pencil from the first edition of 75 impressions. (There were also 20 proof impressions). Drawn and editioned at the studio of Mourlot, Paris 1963. Issued by San Lazzaro, in the series XXčme Sičcle - Twentieth Century - Paris 1963. (There was a subsequent unsigned edition with the artists name and the title overprinted)
Ref: Kaplan and Baum - Magritte Graphic Work no 3 (a)

Superb fresh impression with perfect colours. On pale cream wove Arches paper. Excellent fresh condition. Sheet: 15 5/8 x 16 1/8in. Image. 9 1/4 x 11 7/8ins. (235x303mm).

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The most important print in Magritte's whole graphic oeuvre, and one of only two works in colour lithography which he drew. The first impressions from the signed hand-printed edition are now extremely rarely to be seen on the market.

The most challenging and yet the most fascinating and stimulating aspect of Magritte's art is the way that he takes an everyday object and combines it with another outwardly banal image or setting, and then by the linking of the two leads us to look at the forms in a totally new way, leading us into non-reality and the subconscious. In a manifesto of his art written in 1949 Magritte wrote: 'The art of painting is an art of thinking, whose existence underlines the importance of the role held in life by the eyes of the human body' (translation - Modern Art, Thames and Hudson 1974). Central to Magritte's art is his conviction that the role of painting is not to represent but to stimulate a reaction at an altogether deeper level.

'Les Bijoux Indiscrets' was drawn by Magritte for the editor San Lazzaro in 1963. To draw the image Magritte went to the studio of the master lithographers Mourlot. It was his first work in lithography and they showed him how to link his pen-drawing style with colour-tone backgrounds and he immediately absorbed how he could use the medium to enhance the visual effect of his idea. The first impressions of this lithograph were hand-printed and then signed by Magritte. The stone was then transferred to a machine press, a title and Magritte's signature were added to the stone so that it would print in the regular edition.