• 1976 Edition Lebeer Hossmann publisher's brochure for René Magritte Photographies, front cover, showing René Magritte Photographies in italic script at the top, EDITION LEBEER HOSSMANN / BRUXELLES HAMBURG in small caps below, and a black-and-white photograph of two boys standing with their backs to the camera on a flat beach, their heads turned away, wearing dark jackets and shorts.
  • 1976 Edition Lebeer Hossmann brochure for René Magritte Photographies, outer mailing panel, showing the front cover image of two boys on a beach at right, a central panel with a black-and-white photograph of a man in a bowler hat and overcoat seen from behind standing before a bed, captioned La mort des fantômes with bilingual French and German edition details, and at left the mailing address panel for Edition Lebeer Hossmann, 124 avenue du Boetendael, B-1180 Bruxelles, with CARTE POSTALE / POSTKARTE print
  • 1976 Edition Lebeer Hossmann brochure for René Magritte Photographies, interior spread fully unfolded, showing at left a black-and-white photograph of Magritte photographing with a camera, captioned La fidélité des images with bilingual edition details for the portfolio of twelve photographs; at centre a black-and-white portrait photograph of a young man, captioned L'ombre et son ombre with edition details; and at right a detachable subscription form with tick-box options for all three editions, pricing in
  • 1976 Edition Lebeer Hossmann brochure for René Magritte Photographies, La mort des fantômes panel, showing a large black-and-white photograph of a man in a bowler hat and long overcoat seen from behind, standing before a low bed in an interior, with bilingual French and German caption below and the title La mort des fantômes in italic.
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The New Rare

René Magritte — Photographies, Edition Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles / Hamburg, 1976

René Magritte — Photographies, Edition Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles / Hamburg, 1976

£120.00 GBP
£120.00 GBP
Sale Sold out
Taxes included.

10 × 21 cm folded / 30 × 21 cm unfolded. Offset print on folded paper. Good vintage condition with light handling wear, soft age toning, and original fold lines. Subscription panel remains intact.

Publisher’s promotional brochure with detachable subscription form, issued by Edition Lebeer Hossmann, Bruxelles / Hamburg, to announce a series of photographic editions produced from René Magritte’s archive. The brochure presents three projects: La fidélité des images — a portfolio of twelve original photographs taken between 1928 and 1937 by Louis Scutenaire, format 30 × 40 cm, numbered and authenticated by Madame Georgette Magritte, edition of 50 + 6 H.C.; L’ombre et son ombre — a single original photograph from 1934 by Louis Scutenaire, format 30 × 40 cm, mounted on 50 × 60 cm card, numbered and authenticated by Madame Georgette Magritte, edition of 250 + 6 H.C.; and La mort des fantômes — a poster after an unpublished 1928 photograph, format 60 × 84 cm, offset black and white on 120 g coated paper, edition of 1000.

Rather than reproducing paintings, the brochure belongs to the moment when a private body of photographs entered public circulation. Long regarded as personal documents shared within Surrealist circles, these photographs were reintroduced after the artist’s death through portfolios, publications, and exhibitions, expanding the understanding of Magritte beyond the painted image. The publisher’s role becomes visible here: not simply reproducing an archive, but organising its passage into collections.

As a printed object, the brochure occupies an unstable position between prospectus, exhibition material, and sales document. It announces works that exist elsewhere while remaining a discreet record of their first circulation. Intended to be completed, folded, and discarded, examples survive less frequently than the editions they advertised.

Its significance lies less in rarity alone than in function. It records the administrative structure through which photographs became editions, editions became collections, and a previously marginal aspect of Magritte’s practice acquired permanence within art history.

Shipping and handling included in the listed price.

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