{"data":{"id":34181,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/34181","is_boosted":true,"title":"La dur\u00e9e poignard\u00e9e (Time Transfixed)","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAwAFAPMAAEU\/N2xWP1JKQFRQSm5dSXFfSmZhVmlhVWRiXXpqVXlqWn9vW39xXXx1bH12bAAAACH5BAAAAAAAIf8LSW1hZ2VNYWdpY2sOZ2FtbWE9MC40NTQ1NDUALAAAAAADAAUAAAQLUIB1DHMouUFUCREAOw==","width":5866,"height":8937,"alt_text":"A rather stark, clean-lined painting shows a fireplace mantle topped with a clock against a bare wall with wood paneling. From the back wall of the fireplace, a black locomotive emerges, belching smoke and riding an unseen track in the the air."},"main_reference_number":"1970.426","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1938,"date_end":1938,"date_display":"1938","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Ren\u00e9 Magritte\nBelgian, 1898\u20131967","place_of_origin":"Belgium","description":"<p>Ren\u00e9 Magritte painted <em>Time Transfixed<\/em> at a moment when he was attempting to elicit \u201cpoetic secrets\u201d through his works. With both philosophy and psychology in mind, the artist challenged himself to juxtapose two images in such a way that they would suggest in the viewer\u2019s mind a third un-pictured thing. Here he connected two highly disparate objects\u2014a train and a fireplace\u2014in a composition that became one of his most iconic works. Although the fireplace is domestic and the train is industrial, they are linked by the smoke. Magritte understood that viewers would connect the locomotive\u2019s billowing exhaust with the plumes of smoke that travel up chimneys, uncovering the painting\u2019s poetic secret.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of thirty-five works that comprise the Winterbotham Collection. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/the-winterbotham-collection\">Click here to learn more about the collection.<\/a><\/p>\n","short_description":"A major figure of the Surrealist movement, Ren\u00e9 Magritte approached painting as a philosophical and poetic art. In <em>Time Transfixed<\/em>, he transformed a stovepipe into a charging locomotive, situating the train in a fireplace vent so that it appears to be emerging from a railway tunnel. The surprising juxtaposition and incongruous scale of unrelated elements bring a sense of mystery to the everyday.","dimensions":"147 \u00d7 98.7 cm (57 7\/8 \u00d7 38 7\/8 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":98,"height":147,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Oil on canvas","inscriptions":"Signed, l.r.: \"Magritte\"","credit_line":"Joseph Winterbotham Collection","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":"L\u2019Invention collective, no. 1 (Feb. 1940), 4 (ill.).\n\nSaturday Book v. 19 (1959), 284 (ill.).\n\nJames Thrall Soby, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, exh. cat. (New York, 1965), 37 (ill.).\n\nPatrick Waldberg, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, translated by Austryn Wainhouse (Brussels, 1965), 37 (ill.).\n\nThe Collections of the Tate Gallery (London, 1967), 162.\n\nDavid Sylvester, Magritte, exh. cat. (London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1969), 7, 81 (ill.).\n\nSimon Watson Taylor, \u201cRen\u00e9 Magritte and Andr\u00e9 Breton,\u201d Studio International, CLXXVII (Feb. 1969), 69 (ill.).\n\nBurlington Magazine, CXII (Sept. 1970), lxxviii (ill.).\n\nArts Magazine, CXII (Sept. 1970), ill. \n\n\u201cSo Real Surrealism,\u201d The Detroit News, Jan. 12, 1971, (ill.).\n\nAnne D\u2019Harnoncourt, \u201cAcquisitions of Modern Art by Museums,\u201d Burlington Magazine, CXIV  (Feb. 1972), 123 (ill.).\n\nJos\u00e9 Vovelle, Le Surrealisme en Belgique (Brussels, 1972), 116 (ill.).\n\nA. M. Hammacher, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, translated by James Brockway (New York, 1973), 114 (ill.).\n\nSarah Whitfield, Magritte, exh. cat. (London: South Bank Centre, 1992), no. 155.\n\nDavid Sylvester and Sarah Whitfield, Ren\u00e9 Magritte: Catalogue Raisonn\u00e9, vol. 2 (Houston: The Menil Foundation, 1993). \n\nGis\u00e8le Ollinger-Zinque and Frederik Leen, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, exh. cat. (Ghent: Ludion Press; New York: Distributed by H.N. Abrams, 1998), 136, cat. 122, 137 (color ill.).\n\nWerner Spies, La Revolution Surrealiste, exh. cat. (Paris: Centre Pompidou, 2002), 267 (color ill.), 437.\n\nStephanie Barron, Michel Draguet, Sara Cochran, and Richard Armstrong, Ren\u00e9 Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images, exh. cat. (Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Ghent: Ludion, 2006), 17, 18, 21, 57,143, 146 (color ill.), 147, 150, 152, 177, 184, 197.\n\nChristoph Grunrmberg and Darren Pih, eds., exh. cat. (Vienna: Albertina Publishing, 2012),  8, ill. 232, ill. 233, ill. 235, 259. \n\nChristoph Grunenberg and Darren Pih, eds., Magritte A to Z, exh. cat. (London: Tate Publishing, 2012), 58 (color ill.), 59.  \n\nAnne Umland, Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938, ed. exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2013), 223, no.126 (color ill).\n\nStephanie D\u2019Alessandro and Ren\u00e9e DeVoe Mertz, The Age of Picasso and Matisse: Modern Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2014), 125 (color ill.).\n\nDidier Ottinger, Magritte : La trahison des images, exh. cat. (Centre Pompidou, 2016), 39 (color ill.); 221.\n\nHubertus Ga\u00dfner, \"Elective Affinities: Ren\u00e9 Magritte as the Guest of His Patron Edward James in London,\" Getty Research Journal, no. 12 (2020), 94, fig. 9 (color ill.), 95, 101, 109.\n\nStephanie D\u2019Alessandro and Matthew Gale, Surrealism Beyond Borders, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2021), 223, fig. 203 (color ill.), as La dur\u00e9e poignard\u00e9e (Time Transfixed).\n\nMichael Draguet and Michelangelo van Meerten, Track to Modernity, exh. cat. (Brussels: Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium; Brussels: EUROPALIA Arts Festival; Veurne: Hannibal, 2021), 66, fig. 32 (color ill.), 67-68.\n\nRachel Wetzler, \"What was Surrealism\" Art in America, Apr. 4, 2022, https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-in-america\/features\/surrealism-beyond-borders-historiography-1234624000\/\n\nDidier Ottinger and Marie Sarr\u00e9, eds., Surrealism, exh. cat. (Paris: \u00c9ditions du Centre Pompidou, 2024), 49 (color ill.), 227\n\nJames Rondeau, Paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago: Highlights of the Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), 136 (color ill.).","exhibition_history":"Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, May 13\u201324, 1939, cat. 2.\n\nNew York, Museum of Modern Art, R\u00e9ne Magritte, Dec. 15, 1965\u2013Feb. 27, 1966, no. 38; Waltham, MA, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Apr. 3\u2013May 1, 1966; Art Institute of Chicago, May 30\u2013July 3, 1966; Pasadena, Art Museum, Aug. 1\u2013Sept. 4, 1966; Berkeley, University Art Museum, Oct. 1\u2013Nov. 1, 1966.\n\nLondon, Tate Gallery, Ren\u00e9 Magritte, Feb. 14\u2013Apr. 2, 1969, cat. 62.\n\nLondon, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Rene Magritte, May 19\u2013Aug. 2, 1992; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 9\u2013Nov. 22, 1992; Houston, Menil Collection, Dec. 15, 1992\u2013Feb. 21, 1993; Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 16\u2013May 30, 1993.\n\nBrussels, Mus\u00e9es Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique, R\u00e9ne Magritte, Mar. 6\u2013June 28, 1998, cat. 122.\n\nParis, Centre Georges Pompidou, La Revolution Surrealiste, Feb. 27\u2013June 24, 2003, no cat. no.; Dusseldorf, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen, July 20\u2013Nov. 24, 2002.\n\nLos Angeles County Museum of Art, Ren\u00e9 Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images, Nov. 19, 2006\u2013Mar. 4, 2007, no cat. no.\n\nKansas City, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Art in the Age of Steam: Europe, America and the Railway, 1830\u20131960, Sept. 13, 2008\u2013Jan. 18, 2009. \n\nLiverpool, Tate Liverpool, Ren\u00e9 Magritte: The Pleasure Principle, June 24-Oct. 16, 2011, no cat. no.; Vienna, Albertina, Nov. 9, 2011-Feb. 26, 2012. \n\nNew York, Museum of Modern Art, Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938, Sept. 28, 2013-Jan. 12, 2014, no. 126; Houston, The Menil Collection, Feb. 14-June 1, 2014, Art Institute of Chicsgo, June 24-Oct. 13, 2014.\n\nParis, Centre Georges Pompidou, Magritte, la trahison des images, Sept. 21, 2016\u2013Jan. 23, 2017, no cat. no., Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle, Feb. 10\u2013June 5, 2017 (Paris only).\n\nNew York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Surrealism Beyond Borders, Oct. 11, 2021\u2013Jan. 30, 2022, fig. 203, as La dur\u00e9e poignard\u00e9e (Time Transfixed).; London, Tate Modern, Feb. 25-Aug. 29,. 2022, \n\nParis, Centre Georges Pompidou, Surrealism, Sept. 4, 2024\u2013Jan. 13, 2025, no cat. no.","provenance_text":"The artist; sold to Edward James, London, by July 12, 1939 [letter from the artist to Edward James, July 12, 1939, Edward James Foundation, copy in curatorial file]; sold, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Oct. 28, 1970, lot 50, to the Art Institute of Chicago.","edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Cataloged","internal_department_id":246,"fiscal_year":1971,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":false,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":1280,"copyright_notice":"\u00a9 2018 C. Herscovici, London \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York","has_multimedia_resources":true,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":39,"l":59,"s":11,"percentage":0.001806409308085721,"population":947},"latitude":41.8806504033427,"longitude":-87.6217318698763,"latlon":"41.880650403343,-87.621731869876","is_on_view":true,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":"Gallery 396","gallery_id":25478,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Modern Art","department_id":"PC-11","artist_id":15965,"artist_title":"Ren\u00e9 Magritte","alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[15965],"artist_titles":["Ren\u00e9 Magritte"],"category_ids":["PC-11","PC-109","PC-831"],"category_titles":["Modern Art","Art Institute Icons","Essentials"],"term_titles":["oil on canvas","Surrealism","interiors","oil painting","oil paint (paint)","Surrealism Highlights","painting","painting (image making)","canvas","trains","clocks","mirrors","illusion","mantles","fireplaces","Modernism","Joseph Winterbotham Collection"],"style_id":"TM-7551","style_title":"Surrealism","alt_style_ids":["TM-5981"],"style_ids":["TM-7551","TM-5981"],"style_titles":["Surrealism","Modernism"],"classification_id":"TM-66","classification_title":"oil on canvas","alt_classification_ids":["TM-14412","TM-9"],"classification_ids":["TM-66","TM-14412","TM-9"],"classification_titles":["oil on canvas","Surrealism Highlights","painting"],"subject_id":"TM-12285","alt_subject_ids":["TM-8741","TM-12360","TM-12258","TM-12762","TM-12761","TM-12760","TM-14413"],"subject_ids":["TM-12285","TM-8741","TM-12360","TM-12258","TM-12762","TM-12761","TM-12760","TM-14413"],"subject_titles":["interiors","trains","clocks","mirrors","illusion","mantles","fireplaces","Joseph Winterbotham Collection"],"material_id":"TM-2451","alt_material_ids":["TM-3124"],"material_ids":["TM-2451","TM-3124"],"material_titles":["oil paint (paint)","canvas"],"technique_id":"TM-4273","alt_technique_ids":["TM-3891"],"technique_ids":["TM-4273","TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["oil painting","painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Art Institute Icons","Essentials"],"image_id":"91e4c46b-9ef3-ca78-148c-86845e457d88","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":["679e5661-8cbe-e465-d228-59203b8f0425"],"sound_ids":["679e5661-8cbe-e465-d228-59203b8f0425"],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[89],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"La dur\u00e9e poignard\u00e9e (Time Transfixed)","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1970.426"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["La dur\u00e9e poignard\u00e9e (Time Transfixed)"],"weight":107139,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-07-29T15:14:29-05:00","updated_at":"2026-09-21T09:23:51-05:00","timestamp":"2026-09-21T20:27:53-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. 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