René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967)
Une étude d'une horloge and Une étude d'une brosse à cheveux

pencil
(2, unframed)

ARR

(Quantity:2)

Dimensions: 18 x 27 cm. (7 1/8 x 10 5/8 in.); 21.5 x 27.5 cm. (8 1/2 x 10 3/4 in.)

Sale; Sotheby's, London The Remaining Contents of the Studio of Rene Magritte,the property of the late Georgette Berger, the widow of René Magritte, London, 2 July 1987, lot 809 (part of the lot) where purchased by the present owner.

In this collection of drawings there are sketches of clocks. In Magritte’s art, clocks often appear as surreal and enigmatic objects that challenge conventional notions of time and reality. Unlike the melting clocks of Dalí, Magritte’s clocks are typically depicted with a sense of stillness or dislocation, sometimes distorted or presented in unusual contexts that evoke mystery rather than fluidity. For example, in works like Time Transfixed (1938), a clock is placed in an unexpected setting—on a fireplace mantel—disrupting its usual function and symbolizing the tension between measured time and timelessness. Through such depictions, Magritte explores the paradoxes of temporal experience, suggesting that time is not as linear or objective as it appears. His clocks serve as metaphors for the uncanny, questioning how humans perceive the passage of time and the limits of rational understanding.

Furthermore another drawing depicts a sketch of a hair brush. Hair brushes appear in René Magritte’s paintings as everyday objects imbued with surreal significance, often used to challenge perceptions of identity and the boundary between the ordinary and the uncanny. In works such as The Unexpected Answer (1933), hair brushes are placed in unusual contexts or combined with other objects in ways that disrupt their familiar function, prompting viewers to reconsider their meaning. The brush, intimately connected to personal grooming and appearance, becomes a symbol of how identity can be constructed, manipulated, or obscured. By transforming a mundane object like a hair brush into a surreal element, Magritte invites reflection on the nature of selfhood and the enigmatic relationship between appearance and reality.