René Magritte: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:17, 6 January 2019

René Magritte (1898-1967) was Belgium's most famous 20th century painter. One of the icons of the surrealistic movement, he painted countless paintings with absurd images, many which have become famous, such as "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe") and the man in bowler hat who has a floating apple in front of his face.

This painter provides examples of:

Alien Geometries
Body Horror: Two paintings come into mind: a female face shaped like a female body and a pipe smoking man whose nose is stuck inside his pipe.
Cloudcuckoolander : His paintings often looked like a madman made them.
The Everyman: Ordinary men in bowler hats and black costumes are often depicted in his work, usually unfased by all the surrounding madness around them.
Different As Night and Day: Literally subverted. This painting shows a night scene in broad daylight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Empire_of_Light
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The painting "Ceci n' est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe") depicts a pipe. For those of you who find this strange: indeed it is not a pipe, but A PAINTING of a pipe.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Many objects, people or animals in Magritte's paintings are hidden. Sometimes by a cloak over their heads, sometimes because an object is floating in front of their face or sometimes because it is covered by a painting that supposedly shows what's behind itself.
- He also made a few paintings where things that normally hidden are part of the object, like shoes with feet on them or a dress where the breasts and vagina are visible.
It's Raining Men: This painting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golconda_(painting)
Magic Mirror: A 1937 painting shows a mirror with an illogical reflection. It simply shows a man's back again instead of showing his face. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_to_be_Reproduced
Mermaid Problem: Magritte once painted a reverse mermaid, having the legs of a human and the torso of a fish.
Mind Screw: By combining ordinary every day life images and putting them in absurd situations.
- Or making images dissolve into their environment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_Condition_(painting)
- Or images that simply don't make sense http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_to_be_Reproduced
Non-Indicative Name: The titles of his paintings usually have nothing to do with the actual content.
Riddle for the Ages
Selective Gravity: Certain things float on air in his paintings, like apples, trains, pipes,... but without any general consistency.
Shrouded in Myth: The meaning of his art is open for all sorts of interpretations...