The castle of the pyrenees

What is Surrealism

Surrealism as a concept came into being in the 1920s.

A cultural movement associated with art and writings that sought to re-establish the connections between dream and reality, and the world and our minds.

Such artists paint scenes and paintings, which are ‘weird’, or ‘thought-provoking’ for others, creating hyper-realistic conceptual scenes from everyday art.

Today as well, surrealism flourishes with thousands of surreal photographers and artists trying to make a mark in the field with their out-of-the-box visions and creations.

Artists today credit such success of the movement to a variety of previous painters and artists, but one name that stands out is René François Ghislain Magritte.

Known as René Magritte, a painter who largely influenced the theme of surreal art into today’s pop, minimalist and conceptual art.

1928 Рене Магритт Фальшивое зеркало

Размышления над работой Рене Магритта «Фальшивое зеркало» (1928)

Название: «The False Mirror» — «Фальшивое зеркало» Вид искусства: Живопись Сюжет и объекты: Аллегорическая сцена Стиль: Сюрреализм Техника: Масло Материалы: Холст Дата создания: 1928 Размеры: 19 х 27 см Местонахождение: Частная коллекция

На небольшом холсте Магриттом, Где один глаз лишь нарисован, Сюжет простой, но знаменитый, Глаз небесами околдован.

В прозрачной глаза оболочке Летнего неба синева, Зрачок по центру чёрной точкой, Дрейфуют в небе облака.

Рене назвал свою работу Фальшивым зеркалом и нас Холста разгадкой озаботил, Но разобрались мы сейчас.

Глаз видит всё, что происходит, Вещей, событий отражения, Но глубины он не находит, Нет в глубину проникновения.

Фальшиво в глазе отражаясь, Вещи, события призывают, Проникнув внутрь всего, пытайтесь Найти, где корень обитает.

Так субъективен взгляд на жизнь, Фальшиво это отраженье! Другого зеркала держись, Стремясь к духовному прозренью!

*** Рецензия Сергея Кузнецова 32:

Как долгий снег на небо злится И застилает нам глаза; Порой совсем не видим лица, А смотрим только в зеркала.

Их равнодушие пугает, Своей жестокой прямотой, Где фальшь нам правду закрывает, Как будто белой пеленой.

Ведь лжёт давно душа чужая; И отражается в глазах — Картинка призрачного края, Что иногда мы видим в снах.

А суть запрятана за шторы И ждёт удобного числа; Да я и сам стараюсь, чтобы Мои молчали зеркала.

*** Рецензия Антонины Парусовой:

Что видит глаз? Одну лишь правду, Реалии, что видны всем, А если глубже покопаться, У каждого — свой взгляд на жизнь!

У каждого своё виденье, Свои реалии и мненье! Так значит, холст даёт совет, Найти здесь истину, иль нет?

Всё в нашем мире — субъективно, Но это вовсе не обидно! Мы можем видеть красоту, И глубину и простоту!

И важно — нам понять всё в целом, Не сделав вывод наугад, Рене — загадки предлагал, Всё для того, чтобы картину мир осмыслил! И видел факта — точно суть!

*** Магритт написал две версии картины «Фальшивое зеркало».

Оригинальная версия была написана в Ле-Перё-сюр-Марн, во Франции, в 1928 году. С 1933 по 1936 год картина принадлежала фотографу-сюрреалисту Ману Рэю. Картина была куплена у Мана Рэя Музеем современного искусства в Нью-Йорке. С момента покупки она осталась в постоянной коллекции MOMA.

Магритт написал вторую версию картины в 1935 году. Картина написана маслом на холсте, её размер составляет 19 х 27 см, она находится в частной коллекции.

Бумажная версия полотна «Фальшивое зеркало», для которой Магритт использовал гуашь, была написана в 1952 году и продана на аукционе за 373 250 фунтов стерлингов в 2010 году.

Источник

René Magritte – The Man Who Made “The Pipe” Painting [His Life & Work]

René François Ghislain Magritte

Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium, on November 21, 1898.

His father was a manufacturer, which provided his family with a comfortable life. Yet they were not completely susceptible to financial problems, which led to them moving around a lot.

A tragedy struck Magritte’s life when in 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning in a river. Thus Magritte tried seeking solace in books, films, and paintings. He graduated from an art school in Brussels.

After his yearly military training, he got married and worked in commercial advertising to earn a livelihood while he experimented with his painting.

By the mid-1920s he began to paint in the surrealist style and became known for his art. This allowed him to take up his thought-provoking art full time.

René Magritte was highly influenced by Giorgio de Chirico in his use of perspective and architecture in his paintings. His works are noted for their idiosyncratic use of imagery.

Magritte’s work is noted for its often eccentric imagery and off-kilter sense of humor, as well as its slightly naive and somewhat simplistic effect.

Watch this video on YouTube

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on 15 August 1967, aged 68.

A museum to his name was opened in Brussels on 30th May 2009 and is called The Magritte Museum.

The place displays some 200 original Magritte paintings, drawings, and sculptures including The Return, Scheherazade, and The Empire of Lights.

It is known to be the biggest Magritte archive to exist and also contains his experiments with photography from 1920 on and the short surrealist films he made from 1956 onward.

Anamnese Surrealism short film was one of the most popular short films by Rene Magritte.

Watch this video on YouTube

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

• James R. Mellow, “In the Galleries: Magritte,” Arts 32.8 (1958), p. 58.
• Sidney TIllim, “In the Galleries: René Magritte,” Arts 33.7 (1959), p. 51 (ill.).
• Anthony Bower, “Another Aspect of Little Rock,” Art in America 52.6 (1964), p. 138 (installation photo).
• Possibly Henri Michaux, “En rêvant à partir de peintures énigmatiques,” Mercure de France 352.1214 (Dec. 1964), p. 596.
• Magritte (Little Rock: Arkansas Arts Center, 1964), n.p. (ill.).
• James Thrall Soby, ed., René Magritte (New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1965), cat. 66 (ill.).
• Hernan Galilea, La Poesía superrealista de Vicente Aleixandre (Santiago de Chile: Centro de Investigaciones de Literatura Comparada, Universidad de Chile, 1971), pp. 37, 147 (ill.)
• Architectural Digest 1973, p. 22 (photo of Bergman home).
• Saturday Review 1980, p. 28 (photo of Bergman home).
• Terry Ann R. Neff, ed., with essays by Dawn Ades, et. al., In the Mind’s Eye: Dada and Surrealism Chicago (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1985), pp. 170–71, pl. 41.
• Lori Rotenberk, “A Surrealist Treasure Finds New Home at Art Institute,” Chicago Sun-Times (Nov. 7, 1991), p. 20 (installation photo).
• David Sylvester and Sarah Whitfield, René Magritte: Catalogue raisonné, vol. 3 (Basel Wiese Verlag, 1993), p. 283, cat. 868 (ill.), and pp. 87, 93, 280, 297.
• Dawn Ades, Surrealist Art: The Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1997), pp. 172–74, cat. 86.

Exhibition History

• Charleroi, Palais des Beaux-Arts, XXXIIe Salon cercle royal artistique et littéraire de Charleroi, 1958, cat. 151.
• New York, Alexander Iolas Gallery, René Magritte, Mar. 2–28, 1959, no cat.
• Little Rock, Arkansas Arts Center, Magritte, May 15–June 30, 1964, no cat. no.
• Chicago, The Renaissance Society, Magritte, Mar. 1–Apr. 10, 1964, cat. 1.
• New York, Museum of Modern Art, René Magritte, Dec. 15, 1965–Feb. 27, 1966, cat. 66; traveled to Waltham, MA, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Apr. 3–May 1, 1966; Art Institute of Chicago, May 30–July 3, 1966; Pasadena Art Museum, Aug. 1–Sept. 4, 1966; and Berkeley, CA, University Art Museum, University of California, Oct. 1–Nov. 1, 1966.
• Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dada and Surrealism in Chicago Collections, Dec. 1, 1984–Jan. 27, 1985, no cat. no.
• London, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Rene Magritte, not in cat.; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sept. 9–Nov. 22, 1992; Houston, Menil Collection, Dec. 15, 1992–Feb. 21, 1993; Chicago, Art Institute, Mar. 16–May 30, 1993 .

Provenance

Alexander Iolas ; sold through B.C. Holland-Goldowsky Gallery, Chicago, to Lindy and Edwin Bergman, Chicago, 1961; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1991.

Surrealist René Magritte’s Most Famous Paintings and Their Meaning

René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who is most famous for his paintings that have enigmatic and mysterious meanings.

His most famous paintings are “The Son of Man”, “The Treachery of Images”, and “The False Mirror”. René Magritte’s works often share the concepts of being both “reality” and “unreality”.

He made about paintings during his lifespan, below is a list of 40 famous René Magritte paintings.

1. The Annunciation
2. The Blank Signature
3. Sixteenth of September
4. Natural Encounters
5. On the threshold of liberty
6. The Balcony
7. The Voice of Space
8. Memory of a Voyage
9. The Lost Jockey
10. The Gradation of Fire
11. The Art of Living
12. The Battle of the Argonne
13. Collective invention
14. The six elements
15. The Glass House
16. The Muscles of the Sky
17. Not to Be Reproduced
18. Personal Values
19. Popular Panorama
20. Elective Affinities
21. Ready Made Bouquet
22. The Birth of the Idol
23. Son of Man
24. The Invention of Life
25. The Treachery of Images
26. Homage to Mack Sennett
27. The Tomb of the Wrestlers
28. The Therapist
29. The Lovers
30. Man in a Bowler Hat
31. The Pilgrim
32. The false mirror
33. La Clairvoyance
34. The Mysteries of the Horizon
35. Attempting the Impossible
36. The Endearing Truth
37. The Empty Picture Frame
38. The Central Story
39. The Listening Room
40. The Banquet

Let’s explore a couple of the most popular paintings of the Surrealist René Magritte.

Son Of Man – 1964
The Red Model – 1934
Time Transfixed – 1938
The Art Of Conversation – 1950The Exorcist PosterRené Magritte, Les Vacances De Hegel, 1958Golconda 1953The False Mirror – 1928René Magritte, Le Blanc Seing, 1965Most Popular Paintings by the Surrealist René Magritte

The Treachery of Images (The Treason of Images) – “The Pipe” Painting

The Treachery of Images (The Treason of Images) – “The Pipe” Painting

A beautifully clear painting of a pipe, upon a clear background, with the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe.”, French for “This is not a pipe,” underneath it. This makes one wonder, right? Why is this not a pipe? What is this treachery?

When asked to speak about his very famous painting, he replied, “The famous pipe”. How people reproached me for it!

And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not?

So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been lying!”

So, the map is not the territory, and the word is not the thought.

A picture of a pipe is not a pipe.

Makes amazing sense when one finally gets the not so simple idea behind the seemingly simple image.

The treason of images continues to be one of the most celebrated works of art in the modern world.

It is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The treason of images has widely appeared in pop culture references, such as the book ‘The Forbidden Game’ by L.J. Smith, and the movie ‘The Fault in Our Stars’.

The Lovers, 1928

The Lovers 1928 by Rene Magritte

“The lovers” is another famous and widely discussed painting by Magritte.

The enigmatic drawing of two lovers kissing with opaque clothes completely covering their faces is something that has been theorized by different people in different interpretations.

Some say, that the picture represents the loneliness of two people.

Embraced in such intimacy and still not completely intimate.

While others say that the picture represents the opposites of company and loneliness.

The cloth around the protagonists’ faces is also said to have been influenced by Magritte’s mother’s suicide.

While her body was dragged out of the water her wet nightgown covered her face.

However, Magritte has denied any such interpretations, calling a mystery to have no meaning, for that is the purpose of a mystery, to be unknown.

One of the interpretations that are also widely believed is the fact that no one shows their true side to anyone, even to their intimate lovers or counterparts.

The painting currently sits in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.

Here is a video comprised of popular paintings made by Rene Magritte.

Watch this video on YouTube