René MagritteBelgian, 1898–1967The Portrait
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
The Museum of Modern Art
RoomMoMA, Floor 5, 523New York, United States
On public display.
- Checked
- 11 days ago
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
The Portrait is an oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte, from 1935.
It depicts an almost photo-realistic table setting with a slice of ham in the center, with an eye staring back at the viewer from the center of the ham.
This painting was once part of the private collection of the surrealist painter Kay Sage. In 1956 she donated it as a gift to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Particulars
- Accession number
- 574.1956
Sources
- The Museum of Modern Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 11 days ago
- Image: The Museum of Modern Art — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of René Magritte
The whole life1930s
The patronage of Edward James
The British Surrealist patron Edward James let Magritte stay rent-free in his London home, where he studied architecture and painted; James is depicted in two paintings of 1937, “The Pleasure Principle” and “Not to Be Reproduced”.
1930–1954 · Residence
René Magritte House
1934
Alice Lorge buys “Black Magic”
Suzanne Spaak’s sister Alice Lorge bought “La Magie noire” — the first of a series of eleven paintings showing Georgette Berger in a classical nude pose; Claude Spaak commissioned portraits of his wife and children from Magritte.
1934–1937
Film posters under the pseudonym Emair
From 1934 to 1937 he drew film posters under the pseudonym Emair for the German sound-film distributor Tobis Klangfilm; seven of them are preserved in the Leuven City Archive.
1936
First solo exhibition in the United States
In 1936 his first solo exhibition in the United States was held at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York.
1936–1940
An affair with Sheila Legge and a marriage in crisis
In 1936 Magritte met the young performance artist Sheila Legge and began an affair with her; he arranged for his friend Paul Colinet to entertain and distract Georgette, but this led to an affair between Georgette and Colinet. The couple did not reconcile until 1940.
