La durée poignardée (Time Transfixed), René Magritte, 1938
René Magritte, retratoRené MagritteBélgica, 1898–1967

La durée poignardée (Time Transfixed)

1938 · Painting

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Time Transfixed (French: La durée poignardée) is a 1938 oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and is usually on display in the museum's Modern Wing.

The painting was one of many done for surrealist patron and Magritte supporter Edward James. This was the second painting delivered to James for his London ballroom. The first was the portrait of James, Not to be Reproduced. Time Transfixed was purchased by the Art Institute from James in 1970 when he was raising capital to build his surrealist sculpture garden Las Pozas.

The painting depicts an LMS Stanier 5MT Black 5 4-6-0 Locomotive jutting out of a fireplace, at full steam, in an empty room. Above the mantelpiece is a tall mirror. Only the clock and two candlesticks standing on the mantelpiece are reflected in the mirror.

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Like other Surrealist artists, René Magritte was influenced by Freud's psychoanalytic theories. Time Transfixed has been interpreted as an example of the Freudian concept of the uncanny.

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René Magritte painted Time Transfixed at a moment when he was attempting to elicit “poetic secrets” through his works. With both philosophy and psychology in mind, the artist challenged himself to juxtapose two images in such a way that they would suggest in the viewer’s mind a third un-pictured thing. Here he connected two highly disparate objects—a train and a fireplace—in a composition that became one of his most iconic works. Although the fireplace is domestic and the train is industrial, they are linked by the smoke. Magritte understood that viewers would connect the locomotive’s billowing exhaust with the plumes of smoke that travel up chimneys, uncovering the painting’s poetic secret.

This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. Click here to learn more about the collection.

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Número de inventário
1970.426

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Na vida de René Magritte

A vida inteira
  1. 1930s

    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”.

  2. 1930–1954 · Residência

    René Magritte House

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 1938

    Exhibition at the London Gallery

    In 1938 an exhibition of his work was held at the London Gallery, following the New York solo show of 1936.

  6. from 1940

    Stays in occupied Brussels and breaks with Breton

    During the German occupation of Belgium Magritte remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton.

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