René Magritte Was Pretty Neat
The whimsical surrealist painter challenged the viewer to reevaluate perceptions & reality
Today’s header gif features work by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. Magritte is one of the most well-known and lovingly-spoofed artists of the modern era, and yet he was in his 50’s before he received much positive recognition for his work. His juxtaposition of familiar objects in unexpected contexts provoke us to reassess how we process our own observations and experiences.
Born in 1898 in Lessines, Belguim, Magritte was only 13 years old when his mother took her own life by drowning. Some scholars speculate that the shroud images sometimes found in his work, like those of the kissing figures in “The Lovers,” is a reference his drowned mother, found in the river with her dress covering her face. To further his budding interest in impressionism and at least in part to escape the lingering humiliation of his mother’s public death, Magritte departed for Brussels when he was 18 to study at the Academie des Beaux-Art. However, he was unsatisfied with his studies there. After leaving school in 1918, he sought out instruction in Futurism and Cubism, artistic movements becoming widely popular thanks to the influence of Pablo Picasso, among others.
Magritte married his childhood sweetheart Georgette in 1922, and to support his new family he took draughtsman jobs, painting roses on wallpaper or designing posters and advertisements. He still continued to paint and develop a portfolio in his free time. In 1926 he was offered a contract with a gallery in Brussels, allowing him to paint full-time and permitting him to focus his efforts on surrealism, the form he found most satisfying. Creating almost one new canvas per day in anticipation of a public reception, his extensive inaugural one-man show was launched in 1927. Critics and audiences of the day were not enthusiastic.
Depressed by this dismal response, Magritte moved to Paris. There he met other like-minded surrealists and became one of the leading members of the movement. As he developed his artistic personalty, so did his sense of humor come into play. One example is a piece produced in this period titled “The Treachery of Images.” It is a picture of a pipe with the handwritten caption (in French) below stating “This is not a pipe.” When asked about its meaning, Magritte responded that a representation of a pipe is simply that, and to state otherwise would be a lie.
This type of playful visual incongruity was poetry to Magritte. To him, what was concealed was more important that what was in view and he reveled in exploring the mysterious. Are your perceptions reality? What assumptions to you bring to your experience and your conclusions about them? Can we know truth when it is shrouded from us? These were the sorts of concepts that Magritte wished viewers to ponder further as they searched for what was shown and what was hidden in his images.
In 1929, Magritte participated in a prestigious exhibition in Paris with the likes of Dali, Miró and Picasso. However, he found little overall monetary success in his Paris endeavors and a growing alienation with the Paris surrealists. So coniciding with his contract (and financial support) ending at the Brussels gallery, he was forced to return to Brussels to resume work in advertising. In 1930, he established an advertising agency with his brother Paul, providing him with a steady income and the financial security enabling him to produce and show artwork of his own design.
In 1943-44, during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, Magritte briefly developed a colorful, painterly style (his “Renoir Period”) as a reaction to his feelings of isolation and abandonment. He then transitioned to his “Vache period,” crating crude and provocative pieces of Fauvism. In the assemblage of Magritte works, the pieces from this time were indeed outliers, sporting less-precise, noisy, almost chaotic composition, bright carnival colors and largely lacking Magritte’s brand of reality-subverting surrealistic themes. These canvasses attracted almost no buyers. Additionally, during the later years of the occupation and the lean post-war years Magritte supported himself thorough painting forgeries of van Gough, Picasso and Cezanne and with the aid of Paul, he also produced and sold fake currency notes.
Acknowledging that his “vache” paintings were at least monetarily (and likely spiritually) a form of “slow suicide,” by 1949 Magritte had returned to his signature surrealistic style. He was being represented by an international art dealer and his prospects were on the rise. From 1949-1960 he produced some of his most important works. It was in this time he created his series for “Empire of Lights,” [brightly lit daytime skies with foregrounds set in night], “La Golconde,” [bowler-hatted men suspended mid-air], and a series of “coffin” paintings where the works of famous painters were remade replacing human subjects with caskets.
In the 1950’s Magritte secured several wealthy patrons and took on a number of important mural commissions. He was given a major retrospective exhibition in Brussels in 1954, and in 1956 he was awarded the Guggenheim Prize for Belgium. The fame that eluded him for so long had finally arrived. Popular interest in his oeuvre continued to rise in the 1960’s with recognition by the rising stars in pop art and conceptualism noting him as an influence. Diagnosed with cancer in 1963 and in failing health, he continued to work over the next few years on works that he felt would secure his legacy: commissions for avid collectors, a handful of retrospective exhibits, and a portfolio of sculpting work. He died at home in 1967 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 69.
René Magritte’s iconic motifs live on in current pop culture. His “False Mirror” painting of the sky-filled eye was appropriated by CBS as their logo in 1951, and a version is still used by them today. The apple—a reoccurring symbol in several of his pieces such as the one obscuring the face of bowler-hatted “The Son of Man”—inspired both the Beatles’ record label and Apple Computers. Works like “The Treachery of Images” and “The Lovers” have been adapted numerous times in film and art. The movie poster for “The Exorcist” was inspired by “The Empire of Lights.” Magritte has indeed managed to secure a that lasting legacy he sought; so complete has he permeated our culture that he appears where we might not even realize he’s left footprints. I think he would be pleased by this heritage—acting as the mysterious, hidden influence behind the things that we see.
To explore the symbolism and possible interpretations of Magritte’s works, I strongly recommend browsing through ReneMagritte.org.
If you prefer videos, this one is a nice overview that goes into a bit more detail than I did above:
And of course, I have some other links for sources and further info:
The Paris Review: "Mad or Bad? Magritte’s Artistic Rebellion" by Abigail Solomon-Godeau, 5/14/18
Several years ago I came across an online article about “The Treachery Of Images.” Included was a photo of a letter written by Magritte wherein he assigns an alternate interpretation of the painting's script. He said that “une pipe” is French for “a pipe,” but also slang for “blowjob;” and that he’s saying that the painting of the pipe is not a blowjob.
I do en;joy your write ups, Martini. While I was familiar with Magritte's most famous works I wasn't aware of many of the pieces in your tabs opening. Thank you!