Untitled (Marcel Marien)

In the records received with this photograph, which was part of a large bequest given to the Smart Museum in 2014, Untitled (Marcel Mariën) is attributed to René Magritte and titled Paul Magritte, but the photograph itself tells a different story. The back of the photograph reads, “Photo de Marcel Mariën par Paul Magritte” (photo of Marcel Mariën by Paul Magritte) and “MAGRITTE, P. 2.” Given René Magritte’s predilection for shrouded identities—shrouded faces appear in his paintings as well—these inscriptions could be a deliberate ploy by the artist to demonstrate the absurdity of naming the person underneath the sheet in the photograph.

Impossible to confirm with any level of certainty, the identity of the sitter of this photograph remains as elusive as that of the photographer. Bearing in mind the value implication of one artist attribution over another, the curators decided to err on the side of caution and let the object speak for itself, hence the attribution of Untitled (Marcel Mariën) to Paul Magritte, with the caveat that it could very well have been taken by the other brother after all.