René Magritte

Art Appreciation

As I walked through the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I came across a painting of a painting. To be more precise, it was a canvas in front of a window and on the canvas was a painting of the outside. The title is The Human Condition (1933) by surrealist artist René François Ghislain Magritte.

His witty and thought-provoking images have since caught my interest to the point where I seek Magritte paintings at museums. If a museum lacks a Magritte, it's not really a museum -- in my opinion. 😉

René Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium on November 21, 1898. He began drawing lessons when he was young. 

His mother, who was a milliner -- one who made and sold hats -- committed suicide when René was a teen. Supposedly, when she was found, her face was covered with her dress. It is said that this may be a source of several paintings in 1927 and 1928.

Magritte studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and influenced by Futurismo and by figurative Cubism of Jean Metzinger. He was also influenced by Giorgio de Chirico's scuola metafisica and William Degouve de Nuncques' postimpressionism. 

Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (1926) and held his first solo exhibition in Brussels in 1927, which was not well-received by critics. He moved to Paris and got involved in the Surrealist group. Two years later, he exhibited at Goemans Gallery in Paris with Salvador Dalí, Jean Arp, de Chirico, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, and Yves Tanguy.  

    

In 1936, Magritte had his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City, then an exposition at the London Gallery a couple of years later. 

He remained in Brussels, during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II. Feeling alienated living in German-occupied Belgium, Magritte added colorful and painterly style, like Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

During the lean postwar period, Magritte painted and sold forgeries of Picassos, and de Chiricos. At the end of 1948, he returned to the style and themes of his pre-war surrealistic art. His imagery influenced pop art, minimalist art, and conceptual art.

Golconde (1953)

The Human Condition (1933)

The Lovers (1928)

Sources:

Wikipedia