According to Sylvester, "it is one of the two identical versions of this plaster head painted blue that can plausibly be dated from their appearance in two of Magritte’s films: first, unpainted in a film of the late 1950s and then, painted, in a film made 1960." (in D. Sylvester, ed., René Magritte, Catalogue raisonné: Oil Paintings, Objects and Bronzes 1949-1967, New York, 1993, vol. iii, p. 455, no. 1080 and 1081) the casts, which could possibly have come from the Maison Berger, are identical to that used by Magritte for multiple versions of La Mémoire (paintings: 1942, 1945, 1948, painted objects in 1942 & 1945) or of the paintings Deep Waters (1941).
The first belonged to Georgette Magritte and was sold at London’s Sotheby’s during Magritte’s work-shop’s dispersion (lot no. 865), the other was acquired by Leontine Hoyez-Berger (Magritte’s sister in law) and given to a collector.
Concerning the paintings: the title “La Mémoire” is thought to have been found by Marïen. The head, of which Magritte had bought multiple examples at the Maison Berger is a cast of a non-identified sculpture. According to Leontine Hoyez-Berger, it could be “L’inconnue de la Seine” (a young woman of unknown identity whose mortuary mask became a popular ornament on the walls of artists’ houses after 1900. Her face is the source of inspiration for many works of literature, as much in French as in other languages). She was proven to be wrong, however the fact that she had thought of the link with the mortuary mask is interesting as it is probable that Magritte had thought of the same thing.
The composition of “La Mémoire” paintings is interesting in the case of Magritte’s work: it can remind us of ‘The Song of Love’ of De Chirico: thanks to a reproduction, Magritte discovered in 1923 this painting of De Chirico (1888-1978). The metaphysical Italian painter introduces in the world of appearances, mysterious poetry. The familiar and common object becomes enigmatic. Troubling silence and shadows are integrated into still spaces. Magritte up until then had stated that neither cubism, nor futurism nor abstract art had enabled him to “render observable the reality of the world”, however he was deeply moved by de Chirico’s piece. He considers it as the work of: “the greatest painter of our time as it develops the ascendance of poetry on painting and the varied techniques of painting”. He also stated that De Chirico was the first to: “dream of what had to be painted instead of the way it had to be painted”. This discovery marked the start of his surrealist research and a little time later (1926) Magritte did the painting The Lost Jockey, considered as his first surrealist piece.
