Magritte/Torczyner
Subtitle: letters between friends
By: translated from the French by Richard Miller ; with an introduction by Sam Hunter.
Contributors: Torczyner, Harry.
Publisher: H.N. Abrams
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng; fre
Number of pages: 159
Subjects: Magritte, René, 1898-1967 -- Correspondence; Torczyner, Harry -- Correspondence; Painters -- France -- Biography; Lawyers -- United States -- Correspondence
Description: Rene Magritte (1898-1967) did not keep copies of his letters, nor did he generally save those he received. But Harry Torczyner, Magritte's confidant, friend, and attorney, cherished the letters he received from the great Belgian Surrealist artist between 1957 and 1967, and kept them all - along with duplicates of his own responses. Here, selections from this lively correspondence are reproduced and set in context by Torczyner's notes.

In his letters, Magritte dealt candidly with the daily concerns of his art. He revealed the workings of his own creative process in words and, frequently, in drawings.

Although they belonged to different worlds, Magritte the painter and Torczyner the lawyer shared similar mental inclinations and a vivid curiosity. They were both hostile to obligatory sentiments; boredom was deemed to be the supreme menace, and they remained mutually critical in their correspondence and in their encounters - while remaining friends. The Magritte-Torczyner connection had its special tone, which this book faithfully reflects.

Illustrated with reproductions of paintings mentioned in the letters, as well as with personal photographs of both men, this intriguing book offers fresh insights into the last ten years of Magritte's life and work.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
"Concise edition of L'ami Magritte, published in 1992 by Mercatorfonds, Antewerp"--T.p. verso.