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Available for the first time in an English translation, this selection gives non-Francophone readers the chance to encounter the many incarnations of renowned Belgian painter René Magritte - the artist, the man, the aspiring noirist, the fire-breathing theorist in his own words. Through whimsical personal letters, biting apologia, appreciations of fellow artists, pugnacious interviews, farcical film scripts, prose poems, manifestos and much more, a new Magritte part Surrealist, part literalist, part celebrity, part rascal. While this book is bound to appeal to admirers of Magritte's art and those who are curious about his personal life, there is also much to delight all readers interested in the history and theory of art, philosophy and politics, as well as lovers of creativity and the inner workings of a probing, inquisitive mind unrestricted by genre, medium or fashion.
260 pages, Paperback
Published February 1, 2009
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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 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2020
I bought "Selected Writings" from the Shop of the Rene Magritte Museum in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to my visit, I didn't know that Magritte was so keen on writing. The book consists of well over 100 different works, ordered chronologically, which I find as a good decision, allowing one to sense the painter's development over time. The various texts shed light over different aspects of Magritte's life, motivations, beliefs, political views and opinions on different topics.
Personally, I find Magritte's thoughts on art very interesting. He has almost no interest in other painters, saying: "I don't expect any enlightenment from contemporary painters! I don't go to exhibitions. It's too boring!". Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico are two notable examples: "There are only two painters I think highly of: de Chirico and Max Ernst." and "Apart from de Chirico and Ernst, I do not know any contemporary painter who has even the remotest idea of a painting that is not influenced by intellectual habits that leave me indifferent".
Furthermore, he completely annihilates the idea of expressing ideas through painting: "I consider that words express ideas well enough, sometimes very beautiful ones, too often tedious ones - and painting doesn't have to add to them. Painting, as I see it, doesn't have to express ideas, even brilliant ones. If the painter has genius, he has a genius for images, not ideas". Rather, Magritte (being a Surrealist) is interested in: "the image that has appeared to me and that I consider has to be painted". Magritte goes on and discusses the mysterious, the person's interest in the unknown and the effect of an image on the observer.
In general, I agree with him, that it is very important what kind of feelings or thoughts an image provokes in us. It seems, that not everyone is understanding this and people get lost in "searching" for a meaning (in the classical sense), that the author tried to convey, be it realistically depicting a scene or telling a fable though a painting.
Personally, I find Magritte's thoughts on art very interesting. He has almost no interest in other painters, saying: "I don't expect any enlightenment from contemporary painters! I don't go to exhibitions. It's too boring!". Max Ernst and Giorgio de Chirico are two notable examples: "There are only two painters I think highly of: de Chirico and Max Ernst." and "Apart from de Chirico and Ernst, I do not know any contemporary painter who has even the remotest idea of a painting that is not influenced by intellectual habits that leave me indifferent".
Furthermore, he completely annihilates the idea of expressing ideas through painting: "I consider that words express ideas well enough, sometimes very beautiful ones, too often tedious ones - and painting doesn't have to add to them. Painting, as I see it, doesn't have to express ideas, even brilliant ones. If the painter has genius, he has a genius for images, not ideas". Rather, Magritte (being a Surrealist) is interested in: "the image that has appeared to me and that I consider has to be painted". Magritte goes on and discusses the mysterious, the person's interest in the unknown and the effect of an image on the observer.
In general, I agree with him, that it is very important what kind of feelings or thoughts an image provokes in us. It seems, that not everyone is understanding this and people get lost in "searching" for a meaning (in the classical sense), that the author tried to convey, be it realistically depicting a scene or telling a fable though a painting.
June 21, 2021
Τρέμω στην ιδέα του να ξέρω ακριβώς τα όριά μου.
🍏 Ο άνθρωπος έχει φτερά, αλλά δεν μπορούν να τον βοηθήσουν να πραγματοποιήσει τις επιθυμίες του περισσότερο από όσο μπορεί να τον βοηθήσει το λιοντάρι. Ίσως μάλιστα δεν ξέρει καν ότι έχει φτερά ή ότι το λιοντάρι είναι εκεί, δίπλα του. Αυτή είναι η μοίρα του ανθρώπου.
🍏 Η λέξη Θεός δεν έχει νόημα για μένα, αλλά την αντικαθιστώ με το μυστήριο, όχι με το μηδέν.
🍏 Τι αξία δίνω στην υπάρξει; Καμία. Γιατί δεν υπάρχει κανένας λόγος, ούτε που ζούμε ούτε που πεθαίνουμε. Αλλά μερικά πράγματα δίνουν ένα νόημα: Μία γυναίκα, τα ωραία αντικείμενα, το φαγητό κ.λ.π
🍏 Ένας άντρας είναι προνομιούχος αν το πάθος του τον αναγκάζει να προδώσει τα πιστεύω του για να αρέσει στη γυναίκα που αγαπάει.
🍏 Ο άνθρωπος έχει φτερά, αλλά δεν μπορούν να τον βοηθήσουν να πραγματοποιήσει τις επιθυμίες του περισσότερο από όσο μπορεί να τον βοηθήσει το λιοντάρι. Ίσως μάλιστα δεν ξέρει καν ότι έχει φτερά ή ότι το λιοντάρι είναι εκεί, δίπλα του. Αυτή είναι η μοίρα του ανθρώπου.
🍏 Η λέξη Θεός δεν έχει νόημα για μένα, αλλά την αντικαθιστώ με το μυστήριο, όχι με το μηδέν.
🍏 Τι αξία δίνω στην υπάρξει; Καμία. Γιατί δεν υπάρχει κανένας λόγος, ούτε που ζούμε ούτε που πεθαίνουμε. Αλλά μερικά πράγματα δίνουν ένα νόημα: Μία γυναίκα, τα ωραία αντικείμενα, το φαγητό κ.λ.π
🍏 Ένας άντρας είναι προνομιούχος αν το πάθος του τον αναγκάζει να προδώσει τα πιστεύω του για να αρέσει στη γυναίκα που αγαπάει.
March 22, 2025
vaag maar heel gedetailleerd filosofisch je maakt niet alleen kennis met magritte maar met de hele brusselse kunstscene van de jaren '10 en '20
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews