Le Plagiat (René Magritte, 1940) painted by Frederik Cnockaert, 1998 (Jan Theuninck collection)
The 1940 Magritte original measures 54 by 65 cm and is cataloged in his oeuvre catalog. This hand-painted copy measures 75 cm by 100 cm (without frame) is much larger than the original, in order to prevent later fraud, painted in 1998 https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/rene-magritte-1893-1983-le-plagiat-plagiary-5650365-details.aspx The story in this work is one of hope. Not a world full of darkness and horror, but a hopeful ray of light, a beautiful landscape in a flower still life. The flowers here act as a window into a landscape of grass, trees and clouds. The eggs in a nest represent the outside world invading nature. As is often the case in René Magritte's artworks, there are hidden messages that stimulate our imagination .... The intention in this work is (according to the interpretation of the author of this study) to offer comfort. Magritte painted this original work during a difficult time, in 1940, just before the invasion of Belgium, ie at the start of the Secon