Meeting Rene
There has been no other artist like Magritte. His images are a unique blend of the familiar and the impossible. They confuse and intrigue and provide both delight to a popular audience and deep source material for theoretical academic study. Their realist painting technique and believability reflect his own bourgeoise lifestyle. Working for much of his life in commercial illustration and design he dressed like a suburban bank manager and his made his paintings in a corner of his living room.
At the same time he was a central figure in the European surrealist movement and an intermittent member of the communist party. Perhaps less well known is his extensive and wide-ranging writing. Much of it in the form of short essays and aphorisms, it shows a perceptive, imaginative and witty engagement with contemporary figures and debates in the art world.
At the same time he was a central figure in the European surrealist movement and an intermittent member of the communist party. Perhaps less well known is his extensive and wide-ranging writing. Much of it in the form of short essays and aphorisms, it shows a perceptive, imaginative and witty engagement with contemporary figures and debates in the art world.