Rene Magritte
(21 November 1898 - 15 August 1967) |
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illusion vs reality, influence on pop art Art Work
| Name: |
Rene Magritte |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Lessines, Belgium |
| Nationality: |
Belgian |
| Birth: |
21 November 1898 |
| Death: |
15 August 1967 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
illusion vs reality, influence on pop art |
| Medium: |
oil painting |
| Method: |
oil painting |
| Style: |
Surrealism |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter
Draughtsman
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Biography
Rene Francois Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist painter of the early 20th century. He was known for his philosophical yet light-hearted paintings that encouraged viewers to reexamine their surroundings and their idea of reality.
Born in Lessines, Belgium, Magritte was plagued by family problems as a child. His mother constantly attempted suicide, finally succeeding by drowning herself in the River Sambre in 1912. Later psychoanalysts would attribute Magritte's fascination with reality and illusion as stemming from the unusual death of his mother. As a young artist, Magritte painted in the Impressionist style, but he abandoned it in favor of Cubism and Futurism when he grew uninspired from the teaching at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts. To support himself, Magritte worked primarily as a commercial advertisement artist but for a stint with the Galerie la Centaure which allowed him to paint full time. In 1927, Magritte showed his first Surrealist exhibition in Brussels, which received little notice and much criticism. Depressed, the artist moved to Paris for some time, where he became involved with the French surrealist movement.
Magritte soon returned to Brussels, however, having had little impact on the Parisian art scene. During the German occupation of Belgium, Magritte developed a rather colorful, painterly style, called his "Renior period" (1943-44). From 1947-49, the painter's "Vache period" was dominated by crude Fauvism. During this period, Magritte also took up the selling of forged paintings and later, fraudulent bank notes. Near the end of the war, Magritte returned to his old surrealist style again.
Magritte passed away in 1967 of pancreatic cancer. His art saw the beginnings of the pop art style, and influenced the later work of many contemporary artists, including John Baldessari, Andy Warhol, and Martin Kippenberger. His most famous works include the Treachery of Images (a series of illustrations of everyday objects subtitled with "ceci n'est pas") and The Human Condition (a play on the inability of art to replace reality united by the recurring motif of an easel). |
Samples of Work
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