Belgian surrealist genius René Magritte is only known to have created one politically charged work during his long artistic career. It is a poster in which he mocks the Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator Léon Degrelle , who served as the leader of the Belgian fascist party Rex. The lithograph will go up for auction at Arenberg Auctions next week.
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Magritte caricature featuring Nazi leader Adolf Hitler up for auction
Colin Clapson
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To understand the context of the poster, we have to go back to 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power as Chancellor of Germany. This inspired a young Léon Degrelle, journalist and writer, to found the Front Populaire de Rex. Initially, it was a nationalist and Catholic party, but the movement soon took on fascist traits.
Concerns about the party's fascist ideology led Belgian artists and intellectuals to resist it. It was at that moment that Magritte was approached to create a poster.
'True face' of the Rexist movement
The result shows “the true face of Rex”, with Adolf Hitler as Degrelle’s mirror image. 'The vivid colours red and black were applied in various ways: light modelling of the faces, shading in the clothing, broad stripes for the background and flat tones,' explains auction expert Henri Godts of Arenberg Auctions.
'A variety that above all shows the emotion with which Magritte composed this poster. In terms of content, this poster may well be topical once again today in our turbulent times,' Godts adds.
Reprisals feared
Initially, the poster was dated 1937 or 1939, but further research showed that it had already been discussed in the press in 1936. Stamps were even printed featuring it. After the German invasion in 1940, the stock of posters was destroyed for fear of reprisals by Belgium’s Nazi occupiers. Afterwards, Magritte steered well away from politics.
Two copies are ultimately known to have survived. One has for many years been stored in the City of Brussels archives. For many years the other one was owned by a family who were involved in the courageous resistance to the Nazi occupation of that day.
The poster is up for auction at events on 16 and 17 October. The starting price is estimated at some 2,500 euros. Given its history and context Arenberg Auctions expects the poster to attract a lot of interest.