The Murderous Sky (Le ciel meurtrier)

1927

René Magritte

Associated Names
René Magritte

Artist, Belgian, 1898 - 1967

This painting contains irregular and jagged black lines across a grey background. Four identical shapes cut from sheet music are positioned against this backdrop, with the black lines crossing over them. The cutouts resemble the shape of birds in flight. The paint has been applied unevenly, and the thick brushstrokes are visible. Around the uneven gray paint is a border of off-white paper.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brush and black ink with collage of sheet music cut-outs on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 50.3 x 65.2 cm (19 13/16 x 25 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.47.55

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Sylvester 1992, Vol. IV, no. 1625

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Galerie L'Epoque, Brussels); E.L.T. Messens [1903-1971], London; (sale, London, Sotheby's, 12 April 1972, no. 110); (Baskett and Day, London); purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift to NGA, 1995.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1961

  • Magritte, Grovesnor Gallery, London, 1961, no. 10.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, no. 53, as The Murderous Sky.

2011

  • René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle, Tate Liverpool; Albertina, Vienna, 2011-2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2016

  • In Celebration of Paul Mellon, NGA, 2016.

Bibliography

1992

  • Sylvester, David, ed. René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné. 4 vols. Houston: Menil Foundation and London: Philip Wilson, 1992.

2001

  • A Century of Drawing. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002: no. 53.

Inscriptions

lower left in brush and black ink: Magritte; by later hand, upper right verso in graphite: 18656 Mellon; by later hand, lower right in blue pencil: encienra (?)

Watermarks

ARCHES

Wikidata ID

Q64620333

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