Rene Magritte

Archieves of Rene Magritte
Gender: male   1898


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Rene Magritte's Art Exhibition Online and Biography

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Rene Magritte

Art Types involved-in: Various Paintings, Oil Painting


Rene Magritte Biography:

René François Ghislain Magritte, 1898-1967, was a Belgian surrealist artist, well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images that fell under the umbrella of surrealism. 

Contemporary artists have been greatly influenced by him, include Andy Warhol. His influence of Pop art has been widely recognized. René Magritte art has been frequently adapted in advertisements, posters, book covers and the like. The Magritte Museum in Brussels displays some 200 Magritte paintings and drawings. An oil painting, Olympia, is said to be worth about US$1.1 million. 


More About Rene Magritte
Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte (René François Ghislain Magritte) was far and wide a very unique artist when it came to his depiction of women. While some artists needed series of paintings to tell a story, Magritte’s paintings were so unique that a single one could read like a novel. Born on November 21st 1898, his art has influenced generations of media even after his passing. Much of Rene Magritte painting has been attributed to his trouble childhood, one where he witnessed his mother’s body being found after committing suicide. Her face was covered by her dress, and the then 13 year old Magritte saw it unfold from beginning to end. Some of Rene Magritte drawings of women contain a similar stunt, but it has been debated whether this is coincidence or just artist imagination. Magritte spent the earlier point of his career as an Impressionistic artist, but found more of his soul in Cubism and Futurism. Spending the beginning of his career as a draughtsman, most of Rene Magritte paintings during that period was for advertisement. 

But even with the limitations, they were some of the most creative illustrations of their time. His big break came in 1926 when he secured a contract with Galerie ‘Le Centaure’. It wasn’t a rosy beginning for the artist as he was finally able to paint what he wanted fulltime, with mostly disappointing returns. The critics panned him, but years later praised the very same Rene Magritte paintings. Rene Magritte is the perfect example of what hard work and persistence can mean to an artist surrounded by equally talented peers. 


Analysis of Rene Magritte Paintings
There aren’t a lot of series or big money makers from Rene Magritte’s inventory, but he still has an impressive resume that shouldn’t be scoffed at. Early in his career he was skilled by creating Rene Magritte paintings like ‘Nude’, a 1919 painting that went the complete opposite direction of some of his peers of that era. Featuring a bare brunette, it looked more like a mannequins shadow with specific points on her body addressed with paint in order to vaguely make out it was a woman. It was so brilliantly done that it’s become a wonderful study piece at some colleges.

Using the same style, in 1925 he made ‘Blue Cinema’, this time with a standing blonde cooling herself with a hand fan. Cinema bleu was in reference to a place, as the sign on the Rene Magritte painting so generously points to. The background behind the woman along with the curtains in front make it seem like an actress in a play, which would be fitting since Magritte specialized a lot in advertisements throughout his career.

Not one to shy away from actual nudity in his works, the 1925 shocker ‘Reclining Nude’ was considered a slight departure from earlier Rene Magritte paintings that wasn’t so straightforward. The lady in the photo is clearly naked, bare from top to bottom and laying on a lavish setting. There is no mystery and no shame, and it’s a completely different look than ‘Nude’ and ‘Blue Cinema’ when it came to his designs of women. This painting shouldn’t be confused with Amedeo Modigliani’ ‘Reclining Nude’ which sold for over $170 million in 2015 and was created in 1917.

Daring to be different, the middle period of Rene Magritte paintings were wholly different than his earlier years as he continued to reinvent himself. ‘Collective Intention’ is a 1934 stunner that is bizarre but has a very profound twist. On the shore lays a fish with the bottom half of a female laying naked. This is probably a good depiction of what a mermaid would look like if it existed, and not like the fantasy versions everyone fell in love with. 

Depths of pleasure’ is an often misinterpreted, and often confusing piece of work that deserves a lot of study. This 1948 classic has a bare lady hugging a statue, or so it seems. She is colored in blue, with only the last end of her hair and body having any color, and with that the author chose a variation of red. With the right hand hugging the left side of the statue, there has been debate with whether that is her hand or not. No matter what side you land on, this is one of most impressive Rene Magritte paintings.

During the Vache period Magritte created a painting titled ‘Gods Salon’. A single man stands in front of a massive house surrounded by trees, with the backdrop none other than the beautiful night sky and crescent Moon. This is one of the best looking skies in a Rene Magritte painting and it was created all the way back in 1948.


Rene Magritte's Representative Works Exhibitions:
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Totally 265 Works by Rene Magritte Exhibiting Online.   Display
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