id: 156593 accession number: 1992.298 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1992.298 updated: 2025-03-08 13:06:03.302000 The Secret Life, 1928. René Magritte (Belgian, 1898–1967). Oil on canvas; unframed: 57.2 x 75.9 x 2.9 cm (22 1/2 x 29 7/8 x 1 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Lockwood Thompson, 1992.298. © C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: The Secret Life title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1928 creation date earliest: 1928 creation date latest: 1928 current location: 225 German Expressionism & Surrealism creditline: Bequest of Lockwood Thompson copyright: © C. Herscovici / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- culture: Belgium, 20th century technique: oil on canvas department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * René Magritte (Belgian, 1898–1967) - artist --- measurements: Unframed: 57.2 x 75.9 x 2.9 cm (22 1/2 x 29 7/8 x 1 1/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: signed lower left: Magritte [inscribed on back: "LA VIE SECRÈTE" (II.) 20P.] translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Selected Acquisitions opening date: 1993-02-09T05:00:00 Selected Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 9-April 11, 1993). title: Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-05-27T00:00:00 Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009). title: The Magritte Machine opening date: 2021-09-14T04:00:00 The Magritte Machine. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (September 14, 2021-January 30, 2022) https://www.museothyssen.org/exposiciones/maquina-magritte; Fundació "la Caixa", Barcelona, Spain (February 24-June 6, 2022). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"', 'opening_date': '2006-05-26T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE (Probably Paul-Gustave van Hecke/Galerie L'Epoque/Galerie le Centaure, Brussels) date: By 1929 footnotes: *
In his 1992 catalogue raisonné, David Sylvester notes that a “GS” label on the back of the painting indicates that was in van Hecke’s stock at the Galerie l’Epoque at the time its takeover by Galerie le Centaure in early 1929.  Currently, there are no labels or markings on the back of the painting, likely at least in part because the stetcher appears new, possibly dating to after Sylvester’s catalogue raisonné. The path the painting took from van Hecke to Cosyn is unknown.  Magritte’s contract was initially with van Hecke and Galerie l’Epoque, and he then remained under contract with Galerie le Centaure until it closed in 1932.  On October 21 of that year, it held a liquidation sale of its stock, but the Cleveland picture is not among the works listed.  In 1932, E.L.T. Mesens, director, under owner van Hecke, of L’Epoque from 1928, bought up 150 of Magritte’s works at the liquidation sale of Le Centaure and became the artist’s dealer, and so Mesens may have been involved in the painting’s provenance after the dissolution of Galerie le Centaure.  Or, because Secret Life does not appear in the catalogue of the liquidation sale, Mesens may also have acquired the painting prior to 1932.  However, exhibitions of Magritte’s work mounted by Mesens in 1931 and as late as 1937 do not include the CMA painting.


citations: (Lou Cosyn, Brussels, sold to Lockwood Thompson) date: Until 1945 footnotes: *
In 1942, Lou Cosyn, along with her husband Camille Goemans, whose relationship with Magritte went back to the late 1920s, opened a gallery in Brussels.  Cosyn remained Magritte’s dealer until 1947.  In 1943, they held an exhibition in semi-secrecy in order to escape the notice of the occupying Germans.  There does not appear to have been a catalogue for this exhibition, so it is not known whether the Cleveland picture was among the exhibited works. Cosyn sold the painting to Lockwood Thompson, an American GI, in November 1945. 
citations: Lockwood Thompson (1901-1992), Cleveland, OH, bequeathed to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 1945-1992 : footnotes: *
When Thompson purchased the painting, a length of rope looped at the center served as the painting’s “frame.” While there are no other known instances of Magritte’s having used this framing device, it likely originated with the artist. 
citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1982- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Sylvester, David. Magritte. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. page number: url: Sylvester, David. Magritte. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. page number: url: Sylvester, David. Magritte. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. page number: url: page number: url: Turner, Evan H. “The Year in Review for 1992.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 2 (February 1993): 38–79. page number: Mentioned: p. 66 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161388 --- IMAGES