Oil paintings and objects, 1931-1948

The Belgian painter René Magritte (1898-1967) was an outstanding figure in the Surrealist movement and is one of this century's major artists. Since the 1960s his work has had a massive influence, not only on art, but on the imagery of popular culture. Following the publication to critical acclaim of the first volume of René Magritte : Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 11, written by David Sylvester and Sarah Whitfield, presents a systematic survey of Magritte's paintings and objects between 1931 and 1948. As in Volume 1, an illustrated detailed chronology of the artist's career precedes over 370 illustrated entries which discuss the dating, genesis and history of each work. Substantial extracts are included from Magritte's largely unpublished correspondence, which reveal, in particular, how fearful the artist was of having his work condemned as `degenerate' by the Nazis during the period of occupation between 1940 and 1945. In addition, there follows an appendix consisting of forty four untraced works of which there is no photographic record. The subsequent three volumes, to be published later this year and in 1994, cover Magritte's oil paintings, objects and sculptures of 1949-1967 (Volume 111), works in water-based media (gouaches, temperas, watercolours and papiers collés) of 1920-1967 (Volume IV) and, finally, an annotated bibliography, supplement and indices (Volume V). Volumes III and IV are by Sarah Whitfield and Michael Raeburn. All five volumes are edited by David Sylvester.