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René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature and boundaries of reality and representation. His imagery has influenced pop art, minimalist art, and
conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called ins ...
.


Early life

René Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, Belgium, in 1898. He was the oldest son of Léopold Magritte, a
tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
and textile merchant,Meuris 1991, p 216. and Régina (
née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Bertinchamps), who was a
milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...
before she got married. Little is known about Magritte's early life. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. On 24 February 1912, his mother committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
by drowning herself in the River Sambre at Châtelet. It was not her first suicide attempt. Her body was not discovered until 12 March.Abadie 2003, p. 274. According to a legend, 13-year-old Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water, but recent research has discredited this story, which may have originated with the family nurse.Calvocoressi 1990, p. 9. Supposedly, when his mother was found, her dress was covering her face, an image that has been suggested as the source of several of Magritte's paintings in 1927–1928 of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including ''Les Amants''.


Career

Magritte's earliest paintings, which date from about 1915, were Impressionistic in style. During 1916–1918, he studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, under
Constant Montald Constant Montald ( Ghent, 4 December 1862 – Brussels, 5 March 1944) was a Belgian painter, muralist, sculptor, and teacher. Biography Early years In 1874, while receiving an education in decorative painting at the technical school of Ghent ...
, but found the instruction uninspiring. He also took classes at the Académie Royale from the painter and poster designer Gisbert Combaz. The paintings he produced during 1918–1924 were influenced by
Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects suc ...
and by the figurative
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
of Metzinger. From December 1920 until September 1921, Magritte served in the Belgian infantry in the
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
town of Beverlo near Leopoldsburg. In 1922, Magritte married Georgette Berger, whom he had met as a child in 1913. Also during 1922, the poet Marcel Lecomte showed Magritte a reproduction of
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly infl ...
's '' The Song of Love'' (painted in 1914). The work brought Magritte to tears; he described this as "one of the most moving moments of my life: my eyes ''saw'' thought for the first time." The paintings of the Belgian symbolist painter William Degouve de Nuncques have also been noted as an influence on Magritte, specifically the former's painting ''The Blind House'' (1892) and Magritte's variations or series on ''The Empire of Lights''.Cassou, Jean (1984) ''The Concise Encyclopaedia of Symbolism''. Chartwell Books, Inc. Secaucus, New Jersey. 292 pp. In 1922–1923, Magritte worked as a draughtsman in a
wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so ...
factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie Le Centaure in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
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 solo 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 André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first '' Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
and became involved in the Surrealist group. An illusionistic, dream-like quality is characteristic of Magritte's version of Surrealism. He became a leading member of the movement, and remained in Paris for three years. In 1929, he exhibited at Goemans Gallery in Paris with
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
,
Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...
, de Chirico,
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...
,
Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
, Picabia,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and
Yves Tanguy Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy (January 5, 1900 – January 15, 1955), known as just Yves Tanguy (, ), was a French surrealist painter. Biography Tanguy, the son of a retired navy captain, was born January 5, 1900, at the Ministry of Naval Aff ...
. On 15 December 1929, Magritte participated in the last publication of La Revolution Surrealiste No. 12, where he published his essay "Les mots et les images", where words play with images in sync with his work ''
The Treachery of Images ''The Treachery of Images'' (french: La Trahison des Images, link=no) is a 1929 painting by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. It is also known as ''This Is Not a Pipe'' and ''The Wind and the Song''. Magritte painted it when he was 30 ye ...
''. Galerie Le Centaure closed at the end of 1929, ending Magritte's contract income. Having made little impact in Paris, Magritte returned to Brussels in 1930 and resumed working in advertising.Meuris 1991, p. 217. He and his brother, Paul, formed an agency which earned him a living wage. In 1932, Magritte joined the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
, which he would periodically leave and rejoin for several years. In 1936 he had his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Julien Levy Gallery in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
, followed by an exposition at the London Gallery in 1938. Between 1934 and 1937, Magritte drew film posters under the pseudonym 'Emair' for the German sound film distributor Tobis Klangfilm. The Leuven City Archive preserves seven posters designed by Magritte. During the early stages of his career, the British surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte to stay rent-free in his London home, where Magritte studied architecture and painted. James is featured in two of Magritte's works painted in 1937, ''Le Principe du Plaisir'' (''The Pleasure Principle'') and ''La Reproduction Interdite'', a painting also known as '' Not to Be Reproduced''. During the
German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...
of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. He briefly adopted a colorful, painterly style in 1943–44, an interlude known as his " Renoir period", as a reaction to his feelings of alienation and abandonment that came with living in German-occupied Belgium. In 1946, renouncing the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, he joined several other Belgian artists in signing the manifesto ''Surrealism in Full Sunlight''. During 1947–48, Magritte's "Vache period," he painted in a provocative and crude Fauve style. During this time, Magritte supported himself through the production of fake Picassos, Braques, and de Chiricos—a fraudulent repertoire he was later to expand into the printing of forged banknotes during the lean postwar period. This venture was undertaken alongside his brother Paul and fellow Surrealist and "surrogate son" Marcel Mariën, to whom had fallen the task of selling the forgeries. At the end of 1948, Magritte returned to the style and themes of his pre-war surrealistic art. In France, Magritte's work has been showcased in a number of retrospective exhibitions, most recently at the
Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...
(2016–2017). In the United States his work has been featured in three retrospective exhibitions: at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...
in 1965, at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in 1992, and again at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2013. An exhibition entitled "The Fifth Season" at the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
in 2018 focused on the work of his later years. Politically, Magritte stood to the left, and retained close ties to the Communist Party, even in the post-war years. However, he was critical of the functionalist cultural policy of the Communist left, stating that "Class consciousness is as necessary as bread; but that does not mean that workers must be condemned to bread and water and that wanting chicken and champagne would be harmful. (...) For the Communist painter, the justification of artistic activity is to create pictures that can represent mental luxury." While remaining committed to the political left, he thus advocated a certain autonomy of art. Spiritually, Magritte was an agnostic. Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
, minimalist, and
conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called ins ...
.Calvocoressi 1990, p. 26. In 2005 he was 9th in the Walloon version of ''
De Grootste Belg ''De Grootste Belg'' (The Greatest Belgian) was a 2005 vote conducted by Belgian public TV broadcaster Canvas, public radio broadcaster Radio 1, and newspaper ''De Standaard'', to determine who is the Greatest Belgian of all time. It could be ...
'' (''The Greatest Belgian''); in the
Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
version he was 18th.


Personal life

Magritte married Georgette Berger in June 1922. Georgette was the daughter of a butcher in Charleroi, and first met Magritte when she was 13 and he was 15. They met again seven years later in Brussels in 1920 and Georgette, who had also studied art, became Magritte's model, muse, and wife. In 1936, Magritte's marriage became troubled when he met a young performance artist, Sheila Legge, and began an affair with her. Magritte arranged for his friend, Paul Colinet, to entertain and distract Georgette, but this led to an affair between Georgette and Colinet. Magritte and his wife did not reconcile until 1940. Magritte died of
pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of pancr ...
on 15 August 1967, aged 68, and was interred in
Schaerbeek Cemetery Schaerbeek Cemetery (french: Cimetière de Schaerbeek, nl, Begraafplaats van Schaarbeek), officially Schaerbeek New Cemetery (french: Nouveau Cimetière de Schaerbeek, nl, Nieuwe Begraafplaats van Schaarbeek), is a cemetery belonging to Sch ...
,
Evere Evere (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region ( Belgium). On 1 January 2006, the municipality had a total population of 33,462. The total area is which gives a population density of . In common with all of Brussels' ...
, Brussels.


Philosophical and artistic gestures

Magritte's work frequently displays a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. The use of objects as other than what they seem is typified in his painting, ''
The Treachery of Images ''The Treachery of Images'' (french: La Trahison des Images, link=no) is a 1929 painting by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. It is also known as ''This Is Not a Pipe'' and ''The Wind and the Song''. Magritte painted it when he was 30 ye ...
'' (''La trahison des images''), which shows a
pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
that looks as though it is a model for a tobacco store advertisement. Magritte painted below the pipe "''Ceci n'est pas une pipe''" ("This is not a pipe"), which seems a contradiction, but is actually true: the painting is not a pipe, it is an ''image'' of a pipe. It does not "satisfy emotionally"—when Magritte was once asked about this image, he replied that of course it was not a pipe, just try to fill it with tobacco. Magritte's work has been described by
Suzi Gablik Suzi Gablik (September 26, 1934 – May 7, 2022) was an American visual artist, author, art critic, and professor of art history and art criticism. She lived in Blacksburg, Virginia. Early life and education Gablik was born in New York City on ...
as "a systematic attempt to disrupt any dogmatic view of the physical world." Therefore, when Magritte painted rocks – which are commonly understood to be heavy, inanimate objects – he often painted them floating cloud-like in the sky, or painted scenes of people and their environment turned to stone. Among Magritte's works are a number of surrealist versions of other famous paintings, such as ''Perspective I'' and ''Perspective II'', which are copies of
David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
's '' Portrait of Madame Récamier'' and Manet's '' The Balcony'', respectively, but with the human subjects replaced by coffins. Elsewhere, Magritte challenges the difficulty of artwork to convey meaning with a recurring motif of an easel, as in his ''The Human Condition'' series (1933, 1935) or ''The Promenades of Euclid'' (1955), wherein the spires of a castle are "painted" upon the ordinary streets which the canvas overlooks. In a letter to André Breton, he wrote of ''The Human Condition'' that it was irrelevant if the scene behind the easel differed from what was depicted upon it, "but the main thing was to eliminate the difference between a view seen from outside and from inside a room." The windows in some of these pictures are framed with heavy drapes, suggesting a theatrical motif. Magritte's style of surrealism is more representational than the "automatic" style of artists such as
Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...
. Magritte's use of ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces is joined to his desire to create poetic imagery. He described the act of painting as "the art of putting colors side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced, so that familiar objects—the sky, people, trees, mountains, furniture, the stars, solid structures, graffiti—become united in a single poetically disciplined image. The poetry of this image dispenses with any symbolic significance, old or new." René Magritte described his paintings as "visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable." Magritte's constant play with reality and illusion has been attributed to the early death of his mother. Psychoanalysts who have examined bereaved children have hypothesized that Magritte's back and forth play with reality and illusion reflects his "constant shifting back and forth from what he wishes—'mother is alive'—to what he knows—'mother is dead'." More recently, Patricia Allmer has demonstrated the influence of fairground attractions on Magritte’s art – from carousels and circuses to panoramas and stage magic.


Artists influenced by Magritte

Contemporary artists have been greatly influenced by René Magritte's stimulating examination of the fickleness of images. Some artists who have been influenced by Magritte's works include John Baldessari, Ed Ruscha,
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
, Jasper Johns, Jan Verdoodt, Martin Kippenberger, Duane Michals, Storm Thorgerson, and
Luis Rey Luis V. Rey (born 1955) is a Spanish-Mexican artist and illustrator, a 1977 graduate of the San Carlos Academy, (UNAM). He was among the contributors of the weekly satirical magazine '' El Papus'' based in Barcelona, Spain. He was sentenced du ...
. Some of the artists' works integrate direct references and others offer contemporary viewpoints on his abstract fixations. Magritte's use of simple graphic and everyday imagery has been compared to that of the pop-artists. His influence in the development of pop art has been widely recognized,Meuris 1991, p. 202. although Magritte himself discounted the connection. He considered the pop artists' representation of "the world as it is" as "their error," and contrasted their attention to the transitory with his concern for "the feeling for the real, insofar as it is permanent." The 2006–2007 LACMA exhibition "Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images" examined the relationship between Magritte and contemporary art.


Legacy

The 1960s brought a great increase in public awareness of Magritte's work. Thanks to his "sound knowledge of how to present objects in a manner both suggestive and questioning", his works have been frequently adapted or plagiarized in advertisements, posters, book covers and the like. Examples include album covers such as ''
Beck-Ola ''Beck-Ola'' is the second studio album by English guitarist Jeff Beck, and the first credited to the Jeff Beck Group, released in 1969 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It peaked at No. 15 ...
'' by
The Jeff Beck Group The Jeff Beck Group was a British rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy-sounding blues, rhythm and blues and rock was a major influence on popular music. Firs ...
(reproducing Magritte's ''
The Listening Room ''The Listening Room'' (''La Chambre d'Écoute'', 1952) is an oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte which is currently part of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.Calvocoressi, Richard, ''Magritte.'' Phaidon (1984), L ...
''),
Alan Hull James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne. Career Hull was born at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyn ...
's 1973 album
Pipedream Pipe dream may refer to: Music * ''Pipe Dream'' (John Williamson album), 1997, or the titular song * ''Pipedream'' (Alan Hull album), 1973 * ''Pipe Dreams'' (Murray Head album), 1995 * "Pipe Dreams" (Nelly Furtado song), 2016 * ''Pipe Dream ...
which used '' The Philosopher's Lamp'',
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...
's 1974 album '' Late for the Sky'', with artwork inspired by ''
The Empire of Light ''The Empire of Light'' (French: ''L'Empire des lumières'') is the title of a succession of paintings by René Magritte.Kantrowitz, Jonathan (25 November 2017), René Magritte: The Fifth Season'. Art History News. (accessed 19 December 2020) T ...
'',
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
's album ''
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
'' referring to ''
Carte Blanche A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...
'', the Firesign Theatre's album '' Just Folks... A Firesign Chat'' based on '' The Mysteries of the Horizon'', and
Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...
's album ''
The Grand Illusion ''The Grand Illusion'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Styx. Recorded at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, the album was released on July 7, 1977, by A&M Records. (Intentionally choosing the combination 7th on 7-7-77 for ...
'' incorporating an adaptation of the painting '' The Blank Signature (Le Blanc Seing)''. The Nigerian rapper Jesse Jagz's 2014 album '' Jagz Nation Vol. 2: Royal Niger Company'' has cover art inspired by Magritte's works. In 2015 the band Punch Brothers used ''The Lovers'' as the cover of their album ''
The Phosphorescent Blues ''The Phosphorescent Blues'' is the fourth studio album by the American group Punch Brothers, released on January 27, 2015. The band announced the release of the album's first single, "I Blew It Off", on November 17, 2014, On December 4, 2014, th ...
''. The logo of Apple Corps,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' company, is inspired by Magritte's ''Le Jeu de Mourre'', a 1966 painting.
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
's song "
Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War "René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War" is a ballad written and sung by Paul Simon. The song first appeared as the eighth track on ''Hearts and Bones'', the 1983 album that was the sixth in Simon's solo career. It also appear ...
," inspired by a photograph of Magritte by
Lothar Wolleh Lothar Wolleh (January 20, 1930 – September 28, 1979) was a well-known German photographer. Until the end of the sixties, Lothar Wolleh worked as a commercial photographer. He made portraits of international contemporary painters, sculptors ...
, appears on the 1983 album '' Hearts and Bones''.
John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...
wrote a song titled "Magritte". The song appears on the 2003 album '' HoboSapiens''.
Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...
wrote a 1970 Surrealist play called ''
After Magritte ''After Magritte'' is a surreal comedy written by Tom Stoppard in 1970. It was first performed in the Green Banana Restaurant at the Ambiance Lunch-hour Theatre Club in London. History Tom Stoppard wrote ''After Magritte'' during the period of ...
''. John Berger scripted the book '' Ways of Seeing'' using images and ideologies regarding Magritte.
Douglas Hofstadter Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15, 1945) is an American scholar of cognitive science, physics, and comparative literature whose research includes concepts such as the sense of self in relation to the external world, consciousness, a ...
's 1979 book ''
Gödel, Escher, Bach ''Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid'', also known as ''GEB'', is a 1979 book by Douglas Hofstadter. By exploring common themes in the lives and works of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M. C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach, t ...
'' uses Magritte works for many of its illustrations. ''The Treachery of Images'' was used in a major plot in L. J. Smith's 1994 novel '' The Forbidden Game''. Magritte's imagery has inspired filmmakers ranging from the surrealist Marcel Mariën to mainstream directors such as
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
, Alain Robbe-Grillet,
Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...
, Nicolas Roeg,
John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977 ...
and
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
. According to the 1998 documentary ''The Fear of God: 25 Years of "The Exorcist"'', the iconic poster shot for the film ''
The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...
'' was inspired by Magritte's ''The Empire of Light''. In the 1992 movie '' Toys'', Magritte's work was influential in the entire movie but specifically in a break-in scene, featuring Robin Williams and Joan Cusack in a music video hoax. Many of Magritte's works were used directly in that scene. In the 1999 movie '' The Thomas Crown Affair'' starring
Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 ('' GoldenEye'', '' Tomorro ...
, Rene Russo and Denis Leary, the Magritte painting ''The Son of Man'' was prominently featured as part of the plot line.
Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
's 1979 album '' The Pleasure Principle'' was a reference to Magritte's painting of the same name. In John Green's fictional novel (2012) and movie (2014), '' The Fault in Our Stars'', the main character Hazel Grace Lancaster wears a tee shirt with Magritte's, ''The Treachery of Images'', (This is not a pipe.) Just prior to leaving her mother to visit her favorite author, Hazel explains the drawing to her confused mother and states that the author's novel has "several Magritte references", clearly hoping the author will be pleased with the reference. The official music video of
Markus Schulz Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobâ ...
's "Koolhaus" under his Dakota guise was inspired from Magritte's works. A street in Brussels has been named ''Ceci n'est pas une rue'' (This is not a street).


Magritte Museum and other collections

The Magritte Museum opened to the public on 30 May 2009 in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. Housed in the five-level neo-classical Hotel Altenloh, on the Place Royale, it displays some 200 original Magritte paintings, drawings and sculptures including ''The Return'', ''Scheherazade'' and ''
The Empire of Light ''The Empire of Light'' (French: ''L'Empire des lumières'') is the title of a succession of paintings by René Magritte.Kantrowitz, Jonathan (25 November 2017), René Magritte: The Fifth Season'. Art History News. (accessed 19 December 2020) T ...
''. This multidisciplinary permanent installation is the biggest Magritte archive anywhere and most of the work is directly from the collection of the artist's widow, Georgette Magritte, and from Irene Hamoir Scutenaire, who was his primary collector. Additionally, the museum includes Magritte's experiments with photography from 1920 on and the short Surrealist films he made from 1956 on. Another museum is located at 135 Rue Esseghem in Brussels in Magritte's former home, where he lived with his wife from 1930 to 1954. ''Olympia'' (1948), a nude portrait of Magritte's wife reportedly worth about US$1.1 million, was stolen from this museum on the morning of 24 September 2009 by two armed men. It was returned to the museum in January 2012, in exchange for a 50,000-Euro payment from the museum's insurer. The thieves reportedly agreed to the deal because they were unable to sell the painting on the
black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the ...
due to its fame. The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas holds one of the most significant collections of dada and surrealist work in the United States, including dozens of oil paintings, gouaches, drawings, and bronzes by René Magritte. John de Menil and Dominique de Menil initiated and funded the
catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...
of Magritte's oeuvre, published between 1992 and 1997 in five volumes, with an addendum in 2012. Major oil paintings in the Menil Collection include: '' The Meaning of Night'' (1927), ''The Eternally Obvious'' (1930), ''Th
Rape
' (1934), ''
The Listening Room ''The Listening Room'' (''La Chambre d'Écoute'', 1952) is an oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte which is currently part of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.Calvocoressi, Richard, ''Magritte.'' Phaidon (1984), L ...
'' (1952), and ''
Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...
'' (1953) which are typically exhibited a few at a time on a rotating basis with other surrealist works in the collection.


Selected list of works

*1919
Nude
' *1920
Landscape
' and
Portrait of Pierre Bourgeois
' *1921 '' Bathers'' *1922 ''The Station'' and
L'Écuyère
' *1923
Self-portrait
', ''Sixth Nocturne'',
Georgette at the Piano
' and
Donna
' *1925
The Bather
',
Reclining Nude
' and
The Window
' *1926
The Lost Jockey
', ''The Mind of the Traveler'', ''Sensational News'', '' The Difficult Crossing'', ''The Vestal's Agony'',
The Midnight Marriage
',
The Musings of the Solitary Walker
',
After the Water, the Clouds
',
Popular Panorama
',
Landscape
',
Checkmate
' and ''The Encounter'' * 1927 '' The Enchanted Pose'' *1927
Young Girl Eating a Bird (The Pleasure)
', ''The Oasis'' (started in 1925), ''Le Double Secret'',
The Secret Player
', '' The Meaning of Night'', ''Let Out of School'',
The Man from the Sea (l'Homme du Large)'', ''The Tiredness of Life'', ''The Light-breaker'', ''A Passion for Light'', ''The Menaced Assassin
'',
The Reckless Sleeper
',
La Voleuse
', ''The Fast Hope'', ''L'Atlantide'' and
The Muscles of the Sky
' *1928 ''The Lining of Sleep'' (started in 1927),
Intermission
' (started in 1927), ''The Adulation of Space'' (started in 1927),
The Perfume of the Abyss
', ''Discovery'',
The Lovers I
' &
The Lovers II
', '' The Voice of Space'', '' The False Mirror'', ''The Daring Sleeper'', ''The Acrobat's Ideas'', ''The Automaton'', '' The Empty Mask'', ''Reckless Sleeper'', ''The Secret Life'',
The Flood
' and
Attempting the Impossible
' *1929 ''
The Treachery of Images ''The Treachery of Images'' (french: La Trahison des Images, link=no) is a 1929 painting by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. It is also known as ''This Is Not a Pipe'' and ''The Wind and the Song''. Magritte painted it when he was 30 ye ...
'' (started in 1928), ''Threatening Weather'' and '' On the Threshold of Liberty'' *1930 ''Pink Belles, Tattered Skies'', ''The Eternally Obvious'', ''The Lifeline'', ''The Annunciation'' and ''Celestial Perfections'' *1931 ''The Voice of the Air'', ''Summer'' and ''The Giantess'' *1932 ''The Universe Unmasked'' *1933 '' Elective Affinities'', ''The Human Condition'' and ''The Unexpected Answer'' *1934
The Rape
' *1935 ''The Discovery of Fire'', ''
The Human Condition ''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with t ...
'',
The Rape
', ''Revolution'', ''Perpetual Motion'', ''Collective Invention'' and '' The Portrait'' *1936 ''Surprise Answer'', ''Clairvoyance'', ''The Healer'', ''The Philosopher's Lamp'', ''The Heart Revealed a portrait of Tita Thirifays'', ''Spiritual Exercises'', ''Portrait of Irène Hamoir'', ''La Méditation'' and ''Forbidden Literature'' *1937 ''The Future of Statues'', ''The Black Flag'', '' Not to be Reproduced'', ''Portrait of Edward James'' and ''Portrait of Rena Schitz'', '' On the Threshold of Liberty'' *1938 '' Time Transfixed'', ''The Domain of Arnheim'', ''Steps of Summer'' and ''Stimulation Objective'' *1939 ''Victory'', '' The Palace of Memories'' *1940
The Return
', ''The Wedding Breakfast'' and
Les Grandes Espérances
' *1941 ''The Break in the Clouds'' *1942 ''Misses de L'Isle Adam'',
L'Île au Trésor
', ''Memory'', ''Black Magic'', ''Les compagnons de la peur'' and ''The Misanthropes'' *1943 ''The Return of the Flame'',
The Fire
', ''Universal Gravitation'',
The Harvest
',
La cinquième saison
' and ''Monsieur Ingres's Good Days'' *1944 ''The Good Omens'' *1945 ''Treasure Island'',
Les Rencontres Naturelles
',
La Bonne Fortune
' and
Black Magic
' *1946
L'Intelligence
' and
Les Mille et une Nuits
' *1947 ''La Philosophie dans le boudoir'', ''The Cicerone'', ''The Liberator'', ''The Fair Captive'',
La Part du Feu
' and ''The Red Model'' *1948 ''Blood Will Tell'', ''Memory'', ''The Mountain Dweller'', ''The Art of Life'',
The Pebble
', '' The Lost Jockey'', ''God's Solon'',
Shéhérazade
',
L'Ellipse
',
Les Profondeurs du Plaisir
' and
Famine
' and
The Taste of Sorrow
' *1949 ''Megalomania'', ''Elementary Cosmogony'', and ''Perspective, the Balcony'' *1950 ''Making an Entrance'', ''The Legend of the Centuries'', ''Towards Pleasure'', ''The Labors of Alexander'', '' The Empire of Light II'', ''The Fair Captive'', ''The Art of Conversation'', ''The Survivor'' and ''Perspective II, Manet's Balcony''MSK Gent: https://www.mskgent.be/en/featured-item/perspective-ii-manets-balcony (accessed January 3, 2022) *1951 ''David's Madame Récamier'' (parodying the '' Portrait of Madame Récamier''), ''Pandora's Box'', ''The Song of the Violet'', ''The Spring Tide'' and ''The Smile'' *1952 ''Personal Values'' and ''Le Sens de la Pudeur'' and ''The Explanation'' *1953 ''
Golconda Fort (Telugu: గోల్కొండ, romanized: ''Gōlkōnḍa'') is a historic fortress and ruined city located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It was originally called Mankal. The fort was originally built by Kakatiya ruler Pratāparu ...
'', ''
The Listening Room ''The Listening Room'' (''La Chambre d'Écoute'', 1952) is an oil on canvas painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte which is currently part of the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.Calvocoressi, Richard, ''Magritte.'' Phaidon (1984), L ...
'' and a fresco, ''The Enchanted Domain'', for the Knokke Casino, ''Le chant des sirènes'' *1954 ''The Invisible World'' and ''
The Empire of Light ''The Empire of Light'' (French: ''L'Empire des lumières'') is the title of a succession of paintings by René Magritte.Kantrowitz, Jonathan (25 November 2017), René Magritte: The Fifth Season'. Art History News. (accessed 19 December 2020) T ...
'' *1955
Memory of a Journey
' and '' The Mysteries of the Horizon'' *1956 ''The Sixteenth of September''; ''The Ready-made Bouquet'' *1957 ''The Fountain of Youth''; ''The Enchanted Domain'' *1958 ''The Golden Legend'', ''Hegel's Holiday'', ''The Banquet'',
La Toile de Pénélope
' and ''The Familiar World'' *1959 '' The Castle of the Pyrenees'', ''The Battle of the Argonne'', ''The Anniversary'', ''The Month of the Grape Harvest'' and ''La clef de verre'' (''The Glass Key'') *1960 ''The Memoirs of a Saint'' *1962 ''The Great Table'', ''The Healer'', ''Waste of Effort'',
Le Domaine d'Arnheim
', ''Mona Lisa'' (circa 1962) and ''L'embellie'' (circa 1962) *1963 ''The Great Family'', ''The Open Air'', ''The Beautiful Season'', ''Princes of the Autumn'', ''Young Love'',
La Recherche de la Vérité
' and '' The Telescope'' and " The Art of Conversation" *1964 ''Le soir qui tombe'' (''Evening Falls''), ''The Great War'', ''The Great War on Facades'', '' The Son of Man'' and ''Song of Love'' *1965 ''Le Blanc-Seing'',''Carte Blanche'', ''The Thought Which Sees'', ''Ages Ago'' and ''The Beautiful Walk'' (circa 1965), ''Good Faith'' *1966 ''The Shades'', ''The Happy Donor'', ''The Gold Ring'', ''The Pleasant Truth'', ''The Two Mysteries'', ''The Pilgrim'',
Decalcomania
' and ''The Mysteries of the Horizon'' *1967 ''Les Grâces Naturelles'',
La Géante
',
The Blank Page
', ''Good Connections'', ''The Art of Living'', ''L'Art de Vivre'' and several bronze sculptures based on Magritte's previous works


See also

*
Magritte Museum The Magritte Museum (french: Musée Magritte, nl, Magritte Museum) is an art museum in central Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to the work of the Belgian surrealist artist, René Magritte. It is one of the constituent museums of the Royal Museum ...
, part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. * René Magritte Museum, a museum in Jette in Brussels, in the house where Magritte lived and worked for 24 years, between 1930 and 1954. * List of Belgian painters * List of paintings by Rene Magritte


References

;Citations ;Bibliography *Abadie, Daniel and Galerie nationale du jeu de paume (2003). ''Magritte''. New York: Distributed Art Publishers. . * * *Allmer, Patricia (2017) ''This Is Magritte'' London: Laurence King. * * Allmer, Patricia (2007). 'Dial M for Magritte' in "Johan Grimonprez - Looking for Alfred", eds. Steven Bode and Thomas Elsaesser, London: Film and Video Umbrella. * Allmer, Patricia (2007). 'René Magritte and the Postcard' in "Collective Inventions: Surrealism in Belgium Reconsidered", eds. Patricia Allmer and Hilde van Gelder, Leuven: Leuven University Press. * Allmer, Patricia (2007). 'Failing to Create - Magritte, Artistry, Art History' in ''From Self to Shelf: The Artist Under Construction'', ed. William May, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. * Allmer, Patricia (2006). 'Framing the Real: Frames and the Process of Framing in René Magritte's Œuvre', in ''Framing Borders in Literature and Other Media'', eds. Walter Bernhart and Werner Wolf, Amsterdam: Rodopi. * * * * *Gablik, Suzi (1970). ''Magritte''. London: Thames & Hudson. . * * * * *Levy, Silvano (1996). 'René Magritte: Representational Iconoclasm', in ''Surrealist Visuality'', ed. S. Levy, Keele University Press. . *Levy, Silvano (2012). 'Magritte et le refus de l'authentique', ''Cycnos'', Vol. 28, No. 1 (July 2012), pp. 53–62. . *Levy, Silvano (2005). 'Magritte at the Edge of Codes', ''Image & Narrative'', No. 13 (November 2005)
Magritte at the Edge of Codes by Silvano Levy
. *Levy, Silvano (1993). 'Magritte, Mesens and Dada', ''Aura'', No. 1, 11 pp. 31 41. . *Levy, Silvano (1993). 'Magritte: The Uncanny and the Image', ''French Studies Bulletin'', No. 46, 3 pp. 15 17. . *Levy, Silvano (1992). 'Magritte and Words', ''Journal of European Studies'', Vol. 22, Part 4, No. 88, 19 pp. 313 321. . *Levy, Silvano (1992). 'Magritte and the Surrealist Image', ''Apollo'', Vol. CXXXVI, No. 366, 3 pp 117 119. . *Levy, Silvano (1990). 'Foucault on Magritte on Resemblance', ''Modern Language Review'', Vol. 85, No.1, 7 pp. 50 56. . *Levy, Silvano (1981). 'René Magritte and Window Display', ''Artscribe International'', No. 28, 5 pp. 24 28. . *Levy, Silvano (1992). 'This is a Magritte', ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'', No. 1,028, 17 July 1992, 1 p. 18. . * * * * *


External links


Foundation MagritteRené Magritte Museum
in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
*
Magritte at ArtcyclopediaRené Magritte: The Pleasure Principle – Exhibition at Tate Liverpool, UK 2011Musée Magritte Museum
at
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

A visit to the Musée Magritte Museum
*[http://www.cinemaleuven.be/collectie?title=&items_per_page=15&theater=All&year=&director=&distributor=&actor_actress=&printer=&designer=emair Cinema Leuven - Film posters designed by Emair/René Magritte] {{DEFAULTSORT:Magritte, Rene René Magritte, 1898 births 1967 deaths People from Lessines Deaths from pancreatic cancer Belgian agnostics Belgian artists Surrealist artists Deaths from cancer in Belgium Modern painters Belgian surrealist artists Walloon people 20th-century Belgian painters Burials at Schaerbeek Cemetery Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni Belgian Army personnel