Surrounded by Theories?
Magnifying glass on an image; Original Image: artsy.net
Even though this painting had its own fan and critic base, this did not stop The Son of Man from getting involved in some serious controversies.
People and viewers often get confused by the fact that what exactly is the backstory and what does Son of Man mean?
So here are some of the theories that revolve around The Son of Man by René Magritte.
Who is the Son of Man?
The Son of Man is a painting that is ironic and mysterious at the same time.
It is because René was commissioned to paint a self-portrait but instead he painted a man who was well-dressed and everything, but alas! He had an apple on his face.
Covered in gloomy clouds and with a dislocated elbow, René painted himself because his life was full of confusion at that moment.
The gloomy weather portrayed the sadness he was always strangled with.
Also, the dislocated elbow shows that he was suffering from pain in his life, and he was still facing all the challenges by hiding the pain.
That is the reason René has covered his face with an apple.
It is also believed that René commissioned someone else to do this work on his behalf, but the rumors have vanished.
It was clear that he had painted himself in the painting and not anyone else.
He was not a big-fan of showing his face, which is why he covered his face in The Son of Man.
He had this message quite clear in his mind “The things we couldn’t see are the things we desire.”
Does It Depict Something Religious?
The name of this painting is “The Son of Man,” which is related to the biblical story of Jesus Christ.
But is that what René actually meant in his artwork?
Well, when he was asked whether The Son of Man is actually related to something religious.
To this, René denied it by saying that none of his works are inspired by biblical stories or anything like that.
Also, later, the speculations were wiped off when there was no mention of Jesus or any religion in his paintings.
After all, René painted The Son of Man to trigger endless perspectives! And viola, he successfully did that!
The Single Eye Revelation
At first glance, you might see that René has covered the whole face of the man with an apple!
But when you take a closer look, you can see that he has revealed the left eye of the man.
The famous theory behind the revelation of the left eye is that it is related to the suicide of René’s mother.
In The Son of Man, he painted the eye as a symbol of grief and the loss of a loved one.
In 1912, René Magritte’s mother committed suicide by jumping in the river Sambre, Belgium.
As a teenager, Rene suffered the loss of her mother, and when her body was found, her face was partially covered by her night suit with her left eye visible.
This was a shock in his life, and he found it hard to process. That is why he painted the Son of Man with an eye revealed!
Сюрреализм как иллюзорное и литературе XX века
Сальвадор Дали, Поль Дельво, Рене Магритт, Жан Арп, Макс Эрнст, Джорджо де Кирико, Ив Танги, Майкл Паркес и Дороти Таннинг — это столпы сюрреализма, возникшего во Франции в 20-х годах прошлого века. Это направление территориально не ограничилось Францией, распространившись на другие страны и континенты. Сюрреализм значительно облегчил восприятие кубизма и абстракционизма.
Одним из основных постулатов сюрреалистов было отождествление энергии творцов с подсознанием человека, которое проявляет себя во сне, под гипнозом, в бреду во время болезни или же случайных творческих озарениях.
Analysis of the Composition
René Magritte has painted this composition with perfection, and it also denotes that not everything is as you see it!
Now you might be wondering about the Son of Man painting’s meaning!
This painting also depicts how a man gets impatient and curious when the information given is limited.
In the Son of Man painting, René showcases the man standing upright and facing the audience.
On a closer look, we can also notice that the left arm of the man in the painting is twisted and facing the ocean.
In the background, we can clearly see the ocean, which is surprisingly calm with no tides or waves.
The sky is cloudy as well, which makes the whole painting seem gloomy.
It can rain anytime soon! This is what René had portrayed in the gloomy weather.
The man in the painting is supposed to be René himself, as he is sporting his classic bowler hat and a large gray coat.
He is also wearing a red tie and white shirt underneath the coat, which indicates that the muse is ready to be portrayed in style.
This painting represents the concept of the visible and the hidden with perfection.
It means that whether what we see is real or just a matter of thought process, in this painting, the man can be seen standing with his back to the ocean.
There are three major subjects in this painting and they are, an apple, a mystery man, and a bowler hat.
The Son of Man is not only a masterpiece from René’s surrealism era, but it also emphasizes the fact that not everything has to be perfect.
And the things that aren’t portrayed are the things that raise curiosity in the viewer’s mind.
Suggested Read: Famous Realism Paintings
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Influence Of this Artwork
Rene’s face covered with his hand inside an eye; Original Image: poeuvreart.com
René Magritte painted some of the most intricate and engaging artworks of his era.
They were not just limited to that era; like The Son of Man, his artworks had an everlasting impact on the art world.
René’s work has also made some of the most efficient changes in the art world.
With time, he painted more surrealist paintings, and they helped him rise to fame as an artist.
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Magritte also uses general objects used in everyday life, to deceive our perceptions of what is real or not.
This picture provokes the viewers to look into the vast distance of life to search for what is hidden.
The main themes in the artworks by René Magritte are the ideas of the visible and the hidden and how the world sees them.
Artists from around the world began showing interest in Surrealism, and some of the .
Salvador Dali’s painting methods & materials
Dali typically painted on stretched canvas or wood panel, although some of his earliest works are on cardboard as well. He often started by covering his surface with a white ground (similar to how artists today use white Gesso to prime canvas) and then painted in his horizon line, sky, and landscape.
For his important figures and subjects, he would add a highly-detailed drawing over the top of his empty landscape in black or blue pencil. He would then use small brushes, adding tiny strokes of oil paint to ensure hyper-realistic results. Using a scan of ultraviolet light, it’s also been determined that Dali (at least sometimes) mixed his oil paint with a naturally-occurring resin material, such as damar resin, to give his paint an ultra-smooth, very liquid aspect.
Read next — A Complete List of Oil Painting Supplies Every Beginner Oil Painter Needs
Dali’s earlier works were influenced by the Impressionists, as well as the realism of painters like Diego Velazquez, and the Cubism of Picasso and Braque. Like many artists, Dali learned from both his contemporaries and the rich history of art in Europe.
By the time he reached his cottage by the sea, however, his own style was emerging.
Salvador Dali’s primary inspiration was taken from Freud’s writings on the subconscious. Unlike the Surrealists who worked in “automatic” methods or used random chance to create art, Dali attempting to maintain a delusional, dreamlike state while crafting his hyper-realistic paintings. Dali coined his own term for his mental gymnastics, which he called “paranoiac critical.”
He used this method for the next 50 years to create surreal landscapes stripped down into harsh, empty stages, with strong shadows and distant horizons. He populated those worlds with fully-realized surreal figures, animals, and objects—much like players in a starkly-vivid dream you can only remember for a moment after waking.
Direct communication about the painting
The means of direct communication about the painting, such as labels, for example, are important for interpreting the artwork in the context of its epoch, style and artist’s heritage.
The art experts are expected to be knowledgeable and their impressions from other Magritte’s paintings can enhance their understanding of the symbolic meaning of “The Son of Man” and aid them in interpreting the author’s ideas implemented in this artwork.
The picture cannot be analyzed separately from the rest of the world’s cultural heritage and the art galleries labels are the silent reminders of the name of the artist, the dates of his life and creation of the painting as well as main achievements and the style of painting.
These means of direct communication provide the useful information without interrupting the observation process and the individual’s stream of consciousness and association line. On the one hand, all the labels of the gallery are expected to meet the standard requirements. On the other hand, the importance of working on the label design and content should not be underestimated because it can be significant for intensifying the impression or clarifying particular moments.
Similar paintings by Salvador Dali
While many of Dali’s Surrealist paintings contain similar arid landscapes and prominent rocky cliffs, he returned to the specific landscape of The Persistence of Memory in the 1950’s, creating a secondary work titled The Disintegration of The Persistence of Memory.
The cliffs separate from the water, rising upward into the sky while pocket watches begin to float and shiver apart into the air. The olive tree separates branch from limb, limb from trunk and even the water lifts up like a sheet.
Underneath it all, a grid of blocks (referencing the new era of nuclear power and atomic weapons) seems seconds away from permanently vanishing into chaos.
Copyright informationThe Persistence of Memory and The Disintegration of The Persistence of Memory are copyright Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Sources & further reading
The Surrealist MovementHow the Surrealist Movement Shaped the Course of Art HistoryThe Surrealist Art Movement: André Breton, the Subconscious, and SurrealismThe Surrealist Manifesto
Salvador DaliA Timeline of Salvador Dali’s LifeSalvador Dali, the Famous Surrealist Painter
Salvador Dalí: Spanish Painter, Sculptor, Filmmaker, Printmaker, and Performance ArtistSalvador-Dali.org
The Persistence of MemoryOfficial MoMA exhibit of The Persistence of MemoryThe Persistence of Memory ExplainedThe History of The Persistence of MemoryWikipedia & WikiArt articles
Other Articles & ResourcesSalvador Dalí’s Forgotten HorizonOil Painting Certified as Early Work by DaliDali Work Still Highest Auction Price for a Work of SurrealismThe Disintegration of The Persistence of MemoryList of Most Expensive Paintings Ever Sold
«Зачарованная поза» (1927), Рене Магритт
Поиск «пропавшей» картины может напоминать детективное расследование. Так произошло с картиной Рене Магритта, которую буквально собирали по частям. В 1927 году на выставке экспонировалась картина «Зачарованная поза». Однако о ее существовании было известно только благодаря единственной черно-белой фотографии, сама картина таинственным образом исчезла через год после выставки. Снимок сопровождался следующей ремаркой: «Местонахождение неизвестно Возможно, уничтожена».
До 2013 года считалось, что Магритт был недоволен своей работой и уничтожил картину своими руками, поэтому никто даже не думал начинать поиски. Полотно так и осталось бы в числе утерянных, если бы работникам Музея современного искусства в Нью-Йорке не вздумалось приглядеться к другой картине Магритта — «Портрету» 1935 года
Внимание сотрудников музея привлекло то, что в торцах картины холст был полностью покрыт краской: так бывает, когда основа с живописным слоем используется для написания другой картины поверх прежней. Пришлось делать рентген
И вуаля — из-под слоя краски выглянул торс героини с потерянной картины.
«Раз сохранилась одна часть, значит, должны быть еще четыре», — решили музейщики и отправили запрос на ревизию картин в другие музеи, хранившие полотна Рене Магритта.
Вторая часть нашлась на другом континенте, в Швеции, в Стокгольмском музее современного искусства под красочным слоем известной картины «Красная модель» (1935). «Красная модель», на которой изображен башмак-нога, спрятала, что символично, часть с ногами героинь. Третий фрагмент «Зачарованной позы» — нижнюю правую четверть — нашли под картиной «Человеческое состояние» (1935) из коллекции музеев Норфолка через три года после обнаружения первой. «Квест» завершился только в 2017 году: последний фрагмент утерянного полотна просветился на картине «Бог — не святой» (1935). Спустя 85 лет после исчезновения «Зачарованной позы» все ее фрагменты были найдены.
Поэтому всё, что смогли сделать реставраторы с найденными частями, — это восстановить полотно в цифровом виде.
Но зачем Рене Магритт все-таки решил разрезать полотно на четыре части? Главной причиной считают финансовые затруднения живописца.
History of The Son Of Man
Rene’s signature bowler hat and coat; Original Image: pxfuel.com
A self-portrait, but with no face! Yes, this is René Magritte’s art- The Son of Man!
The Son of Man’s meaning goes way deeper than what it looks like!
The Son of Man, or as known in French by the name, ‘Le fils de I’homme,” It is one of René Magritte’s most famous paintings!
This is one of the most decorated paintings from René Magritte’s Surrealism movement.
René Magritte drew this painting at the request of his friend Harry Torczyner, who was an attorney in New York.
They both shared a beautiful friendship and even wrote letters to each other on a regular basis.
On Harry’s request to get a self-portrait of Rene, he intended to paint a picture for his friend and not do a portrait.
So, he drew more than three paintings, and Son of a Man by Magritte was created, he covered his face with a green apple.
It is also believed that he completed the work on this painting way before he brought it live for the viewers to see it.
There are many speculations about The Son of Man painting, including that it was inspired by the .
Suggested Read: Famous Paintings Of Jesus
