René Magritte
Dangerous Liaisons1935

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Vertical oil painting of a nude figure seen from behind, holding a gold-framed rectangle that frames their own torso; signed 'Magritte' upper right

Artist or Maker: René Magritte
Belgium, 1898-1967
Title: Dangerous Liaisons
Culture: Belgian
Date Made: 1935
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 28 3/4 × 21 1/2 in. (73.03 × 54.61 cm) Framed: 34 5/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/16 in. (87.95 × 68.26 × 5.56 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of A. Jerrold Perenchio
Accession Number: M.2025.64.25
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: René Magritte’s Surrealism was a private affair. Rather than engaging in declarations extolling the virtues of the unconscious or undermining social order, as his more public-facing French and Spanish counterparts were wont to do, the Belgian artist covertly followed his artistic path. This interiority is manifest throughout Magritte’s startling painterly visions. Grounded in extraordinary technical skill, his works are constructs of the mind, visual games that deal with illusion and artifice, subverting expectations of the function of everyday objects. The nude female at the center of Dangerous Liaisons holds a mirror that should modestly cover her bare sexuality. However, this obstruction is undermined by the impossibly reflected surface, that of the body of the woman herself, turned away, at a slight distance. While exposed, she nevertheless attempts to hide, as we are presented not with a frontal view but a view from behind. The mirror shows the figure’s back, a tantalizing glimpse of her breast, and, with one stroke of flesh-colored highlight, a beautifully delineated derrière. This back and forth, found literally in the figure’s position and metaphorically in the real and imaginary nature of the image, lies at the heart of Magritte’s painting. Its ingenious arrangement simultaneously promotes and prevents sexual enticement.

While Magritte’s works often contain erotic undertones, this canvas is one of his most explicit in that regard. This perhaps can be attributed to his intellectual dialogues with fellow Surrealists as well as his own writings, which in the years leading to the creation of this painting turned toward the erotic.

2024
Provenance: Claude Marcy (1905–1996), Paris, c. 1935 to mid-1970s.(1) [Possibly Galerie Arts/Contact, Paris, c. 1972].(2) Anonymous (sale, Paris, Espace Cardin, 17 November 1977, lot 15).(2) [Galerie Octave Negru, Paris, before 1983]. Anonymous (sale, New York, Christie’s, 16 May 1984, lot 51, to); A. J. Perenchio (1930–2017), Los Angeles, gifted 2025 to; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Footnotes
(1) Claude Marcy (née Marcienne Odette Vaudey, 1905–1996) was a French actress and companion of the Belgian screenwriter Charles Spaak (1903–1975). Spaak’s brother Claude was a great friend and patron of Magritte. In 1939, Marcy married Henri Jeanson, journalist, critic, and writer, and they remained married until his death in 1970.
(2) In addition to citing the 1972 Galerie Arts/Contact exhibition of the Claude Spaak Collection, in whose catalogue this painting is not listed. Christie’s sale catalogue has included Galerie Arts/ Contact Paris in the ownership history; however, Sylvester noted the painting “remained with [Claude Marcy] until the mid-1970s.” Harry Torczyner in Magritte: Ideas and Images, cites the owner as “private collection, Calvados, France,” which may well be a reference to Claude Marcy, who was living in Calvados with her husband at least through 1970, and is also buried there. There is a possibility that the seller in the Espace Cardin Paris 17 November 1977 sale is Claude Marcy (Mrs. Henri Jeanson).
Selected Bibliography: Lehmbeck, Leah, ed. Impressionist and Modern Art: The A. Jerrold Perenchio Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich: DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2016.
Copyright: © C. Herscovici/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, photo © Fredrik Nilsen

René Magritte
Dangerous Liaisons1935

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: René Magritte
Belgium, 1898-1967
Title: Dangerous Liaisons
Culture: Belgian
Date Made: 1935
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 28 3/4 × 21 1/2 in. (73.03 × 54.61 cm) Framed: 34 5/8 × 26 7/8 × 2 3/16 in. (87.95 × 68.26 × 5.56 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of A. Jerrold Perenchio
Accession Number: M.2025.64.25
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: René Magritte’s Surrealism was a private affair. Rather than engaging in declarations extolling the virtues of the unconscious or undermining social order, as his more public-facing French and Spanish counterparts were wont to do, the Belgian artist covertly followed his artistic path. This interiority is manifest throughout Magritte’s startling painterly visions. Grounded in extraordinary technical skill, his works are constructs of the mind, visual games that deal with illusion and artifice, subverting expectations of the function of everyday objects. The nude female at the center of Dangerous Liaisons holds a mirror that should modestly cover her bare sexuality. However, this obstruction is undermined by the impossibly reflected surface, that of the body of the woman herself, turned away, at a slight distance. While exposed, she nevertheless attempts to hide, as we are presented not with a frontal view but a view from behind. The mirror shows the figure’s back, a tantalizing glimpse of her breast, and, with one stroke of flesh-colored highlight, a beautifully delineated derrière. This back and forth, found literally in the figure’s position and metaphorically in the real and imaginary nature of the image, lies at the heart of Magritte’s painting. Its ingenious arrangement simultaneously promotes and prevents sexual enticement.

While Magritte’s works often contain erotic undertones, this canvas is one of his most explicit in that regard. This perhaps can be attributed to his intellectual dialogues with fellow Surrealists as well as his own writings, which in the years leading to the creation of this painting turned toward the erotic.

2024
Provenance: Claude Marcy (1905–1996), Paris, c. 1935 to mid-1970s.(1) [Possibly Galerie Arts/Contact, Paris, c. 1972].(2) Anonymous (sale, Paris, Espace Cardin, 17 November 1977, lot 15).(2) [Galerie Octave Negru, Paris, before 1983]. Anonymous (sale, New York, Christie’s, 16 May 1984, lot 51, to); A. J. Perenchio (1930–2017), Los Angeles, gifted 2025 to; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Footnotes
(1) Claude Marcy (née Marcienne Odette Vaudey, 1905–1996) was a French actress and companion of the Belgian screenwriter Charles Spaak (1903–1975). Spaak’s brother Claude was a great friend and patron of Magritte. In 1939, Marcy married Henri Jeanson, journalist, critic, and writer, and they remained married until his death in 1970.
(2) In addition to citing the 1972 Galerie Arts/Contact exhibition of the Claude Spaak Collection, in whose catalogue this painting is not listed. Christie’s sale catalogue has included Galerie Arts/ Contact Paris in the ownership history; however, Sylvester noted the painting “remained with [Claude Marcy] until the mid-1970s.” Harry Torczyner in Magritte: Ideas and Images, cites the owner as “private collection, Calvados, France,” which may well be a reference to Claude Marcy, who was living in Calvados with her husband at least through 1970, and is also buried there. There is a possibility that the seller in the Espace Cardin Paris 17 November 1977 sale is Claude Marcy (Mrs. Henri Jeanson).
Selected Bibliography: Lehmbeck, Leah, ed. Impressionist and Modern Art: The A. Jerrold Perenchio Collection. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich: DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2016.