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Magritte
Another title from The Crown Art Library, the most useful monographs available on a wide range of significant artists. Each volume is written by an internationally recognized authority and is generously illustrated with full-color reproductions of the artist's paintings and two-color reproductions of sketches and line drawings.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
René Magritte
108 books77 followersRené François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images.
Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. In 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water. The image of his mother floating, her dress obscuring her face, may have influenced a 1927–1928 series of paintings of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants, but Magritte disliked this explanation. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. In 1922 he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met in 1913.
Magritte worked as an assistant designer in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.
When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, he returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. Then, with his brother, he formed an agency, which earned him a living wage.
Surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte, in the early stages of his career, to stay rent free in his London home and paint. James is featured in two of Magritte's pieces, Le Principe du Plaisir (The Pleasure Principle) and La Reproduction Interdite.
During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. At the time he renounced the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, though he returned to the themes later.
His work was exhibited in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospective exhibitions, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.
Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on August 15, 1967 and was interred in Schaarbeek Cemetery, Brussels.
Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced pop, minimalist and conceptual art. In 2005 he came 9th in the Walloon version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian); in the Flemish version he was 18th.
Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. In 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water. The image of his mother floating, her dress obscuring her face, may have influenced a 1927–1928 series of paintings of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants, but Magritte disliked this explanation. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. In 1922 he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met in 1913.
Magritte worked as an assistant designer in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.
When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, he returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. Then, with his brother, he formed an agency, which earned him a living wage.
Surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte, in the early stages of his career, to stay rent free in his London home and paint. James is featured in two of Magritte's pieces, Le Principe du Plaisir (The Pleasure Principle) and La Reproduction Interdite.
During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. At the time he renounced the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, though he returned to the themes later.
His work was exhibited in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospective exhibitions, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.
Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on August 15, 1967 and was interred in Schaarbeek Cemetery, Brussels.
Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced pop, minimalist and conceptual art. In 2005 he came 9th in the Walloon version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian); in the Flemish version he was 18th.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 21, 2008
Magritte is easily my favorite surrealist and quite possibly my favorite painter hands down. I think that I see more of Magritte's influence in the films of David Lynch (think opening scene of Blue Velvet, several more subtle and sublime daylight scenes in Mulholland Drive, et al.) than I do of Lynch's stated main painterly influence Francis Bacon (who I'm a big fan of by the way).
November 30, 2023
Good intro to Magritte. It includes a brief written section exploring Magritte's life and work followed by a sampling of his paintings. I've always loved his whimsical images and was glad to delve deeper into them. It was interesting to learn more about the concepts he was trying to explore, such as the "illusion of reality" explored in his paintings of windows, doors, easels, and words (e.g. Ceci n'est pas un pipe). This was a quick and easy read that helped me better appreciate an amazing artist.
August 3, 2016
Probably only my own dislike of surrealism. I don't like the way people are portrayed, I find almost all the artist's works very detached from me as a person. It can be interesting only in an odd sort of way, and I suppose some people like that - the abnormality of it? Magritte doesn't evoke deep emotion, it's nothing I can look on for a long time, there's very little to discover (for me).
August 22, 2011
PERFECTION
December 7, 2021
MAGRITTE-JOSE MARIA FAERNA
✒"-For me,-Magritte once wrote-the concept of a picture is an idea of one or more things that can be made visible through my painting. The idea is not itself visible in the painting: an idea cannot be seen with one's eyes."
🎨Rene Magritte,belgijski predstavnik nadrealizma ili,preciznije,magičnog realizma je jedan od meni najdražih slikara
🎨Knjiga sadži sedamdesetak reprodukcija s kratkim objašnjenjem ispod svake.
🎨To je to. Kratko,jasno,a onda uživanje u slikama
#7sensesofabook #bookstagram #knjige #literature #readingaddict
✒"-For me,-Magritte once wrote-the concept of a picture is an idea of one or more things that can be made visible through my painting. The idea is not itself visible in the painting: an idea cannot be seen with one's eyes."
🎨Rene Magritte,belgijski predstavnik nadrealizma ili,preciznije,magičnog realizma je jedan od meni najdražih slikara
🎨Knjiga sadži sedamdesetak reprodukcija s kratkim objašnjenjem ispod svake.
🎨To je to. Kratko,jasno,a onda uživanje u slikama
#7sensesofabook #bookstagram #knjige #literature #readingaddict
January 1, 2020
A classic Taschen. A smaller book with a lot of pictures of Magritte's greatest work. Marcel Paquet's text was boring, but (!) I did enjoy Magritte's own short comments on his own paintings. Worth browsing through, but not really for those who want to know more about Magritte or surrealism.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews