René Magritte, L'empire des lumières (The Dominion of Lights)

Artist: René Magritte (1898 - 1967)
Title:L'empire des lumières (The Dominion of Lights)
Medium:Color Lithograph
Sheet Size:23 3/5 in x 15 3/4 in (60 cm x 40 cm)
Framed Size:Approx. 35 in x 25 in (88.9 cm x 63.5 cm)
Edition:Numbered from the edition of 275 in pencil in the lower left margin.
Signature:This work is signed ‘Magritte’ in fascimile in graphite color in the lower right margin and signed in pencil in the lower left margin by the representative of ADAGP representing the Magritte Succession, Mr. Charly Hersovici.
Condition:This work is in excellent condition.
ID #W-5683

Historical Description

René Magritte L'empire des lumières (The Dominion of Lights) captures a curious moment in which day meets night. This work is another example of the series of 1950's-1960's paintings that Magritte produced under the generic title L'Empire des lumières (The Dominion of Lights). Of these works Magritte states, "The landscape suggests night and the sky suggests day. This evocation of night and day seems to me to be endowed with the power to surprise and delight us. I call that power: poetry. If I believe this evocation to possess that kind of poetic power, among other reasons it is because I have always entertained the greatest interest in night and in day without ever feeling any preference for one or the other. This great interest in night and in day is a feeling of admiration and amazement" (Meuris, pg. 138).

Created after the 1954 original oil on canvas L'Empire des lumières (The Dominion of Lights) by René Magritte (1898-1967), this color lithograph was published and printed by Philippe Moreno, Paris in 2003. This work is signed ‘Magritte’ in fascimile in graphite color in the lower right margin and signed in pencil in the lower left margin by the representative of ADAGP representing the Magritte Succession, Mr. Charly Hersovici. Numbered from the edition of 275 in pencil in the lower left margin.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

René Magritte artwork The Dominion of Lights (L’Empire des Lumieres) is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoice that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Meuris, Jacques. Magritte. London: Greenwich Editions, 1988. Original 1954 oil on canvas illustrated on pg. 139 and discussed on pg. 138.

2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Framed to museum-grade conservation standards, René Magritte artwork The Dominion of Lights (L’Empire des Lumieres) is presented in a modern moulding with silk-wrapped mats and optical-grade Plexiglas.