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Magritte in 400 images
Magritte in 400 images offers a selection of the most iconic paintings from the master Surrealist, René Magritte, along with a multitude of perhaps less well-known, but no less exciting jewels from his expansive oeuvre. The novel choice of works will surprise and delight the reader as they continue to uncover ever more facets of the celebrated painter, from his gouaches to his painted bottles and much more. Spanning seven chapters, this book brings together the myriad aspects of Magritte's pictorial vision. Beginning with his first forays into abstract painting in the 1920s, navigating his search for solace in his Sunlit Period, as well as his brittle période vache and moving on to his Surrealist masterpieces of the 1950s and 1960s, it gently guides the reader through Magritte's world. Each chapter opens with a summary of the artistic stakes at play during that period and Magritte's place in them, immersing the reader in the contemporary artistic milieu. The 400 reproductions of Magritte's work are complemented by a unique selection of historical photographs. Alive with images and information, this compact gem is a must-have for all art enthusiasts and connoisseurs.
- GenresArt
440 pages, Hardcover
Published November 8, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 31, 2024
Great collection of great images and offers an incredible introduction into the life of this artist. By the nature of the physical dimensions of the book, the art can only be rendered so large, however for what this book sets out to accomplish, it does so quite well. The only thing seriously lacking is English translations for many of Magritte's work. While the impact may not be the same as that of the original language, a good portion of his work plays with images and names that is totally lost without a working knowledge of the language. Would have been a worthwhile addition to put with each of those images.
February 13, 2025
“We must not fear the sun's light on the pretext that it has almost always shone only on a world of misery. Mermaids, doors, phantoms, gods, trees - all these objects of the spirit will be restored, with new and attractive traits to the intense life of bright lights in the isolation of the world of the mind.”
“My way of painting is completely ordinary, academic. What is important in my painting is what it shows. I consider it essential to discover how the world can interest us deeply. Now, the world interests us deeply in its mystery. By mystery I mean what cannot be known, what science cannot reduce to knowledge that can be expressed.”
“There is no need to tell you that I was not thinking of war while I painted it.
The apple is the apparent visible hiding the
hidden visible (the man's face). In the world, everything always happens like that. So it is a sort of tension or war. our mind seeks to see what we cannot see. I would also like for the veer of my painting to be in a poetical state; as if disturbed by poetry.”
“He continued to paint at home, wearing a suit and house slippers. He never had a studio. Nothing protected the floor when he was painting, so carefully did he proceed. His painting activity was regular, almost routine, interspersed with a game of chess or walking the dog. (…) In order to paint, he did not necessarily have to dress as it he were poor and loiter in the cafés of Paris until midnight, like some artists. As if it were almost perverse to have a regular, well-ordered life. It's like Kant, who lived a very regular life.”
“My way of painting is completely ordinary, academic. What is important in my painting is what it shows. I consider it essential to discover how the world can interest us deeply. Now, the world interests us deeply in its mystery. By mystery I mean what cannot be known, what science cannot reduce to knowledge that can be expressed.”
“There is no need to tell you that I was not thinking of war while I painted it.
The apple is the apparent visible hiding the
hidden visible (the man's face). In the world, everything always happens like that. So it is a sort of tension or war. our mind seeks to see what we cannot see. I would also like for the veer of my painting to be in a poetical state; as if disturbed by poetry.”
“He continued to paint at home, wearing a suit and house slippers. He never had a studio. Nothing protected the floor when he was painting, so carefully did he proceed. His painting activity was regular, almost routine, interspersed with a game of chess or walking the dog. (…) In order to paint, he did not necessarily have to dress as it he were poor and loiter in the cafés of Paris until midnight, like some artists. As if it were almost perverse to have a regular, well-ordered life. It's like Kant, who lived a very regular life.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2024
Decent Collection of Magrittes Best Known Paintings (albeit with little analysis)
This book is separated into chapters with each one covering distinct periods of the artist’s career, coinciding with the relevant prevalent style at the time. The chapters contain a few paintings from each period. The quality of the painting is fairly decent but definitely not up to a par matching museum art books or those found in Taschen Publishing’s “Basic Art” series. Nevertheless they are fairly good.
Each chapter also contains, usually, about a 6-8 page introduction. These chapters also include a few illustrations relevant to each period covered. Hence each introduction, in terms of text, is about half that. Hence the text is pretty basic. Definitely an introduction to each period but nothing deep and profound. For readers who seek a more in-depth textual analysis of Magritte and his works, but one that is not too long (about 90 or so pages) this reviewer highly recommends Taschen Publishing’s “Basic Arts” book “Rene Magritte: 1898-1967” by Marcel Paquet. That contains more analysis and fewer paintings (albeit the quality of the illustrations is higher than in “Magritte in 400 Images”.
In short, a very good introduction for the reader who desires an introduction to Magritte in about 2 or so hours (albeit not as good as the Taschen book). For that audience, the one it seems geared towards, this book would rate four stars.
This book is separated into chapters with each one covering distinct periods of the artist’s career, coinciding with the relevant prevalent style at the time. The chapters contain a few paintings from each period. The quality of the painting is fairly decent but definitely not up to a par matching museum art books or those found in Taschen Publishing’s “Basic Art” series. Nevertheless they are fairly good.
Each chapter also contains, usually, about a 6-8 page introduction. These chapters also include a few illustrations relevant to each period covered. Hence each introduction, in terms of text, is about half that. Hence the text is pretty basic. Definitely an introduction to each period but nothing deep and profound. For readers who seek a more in-depth textual analysis of Magritte and his works, but one that is not too long (about 90 or so pages) this reviewer highly recommends Taschen Publishing’s “Basic Arts” book “Rene Magritte: 1898-1967” by Marcel Paquet. That contains more analysis and fewer paintings (albeit the quality of the illustrations is higher than in “Magritte in 400 Images”.
In short, a very good introduction for the reader who desires an introduction to Magritte in about 2 or so hours (albeit not as good as the Taschen book). For that audience, the one it seems geared towards, this book would rate four stars.
September 15, 2025
Now this is how you produce a book of paintings. A full-page painting on each page. If the book was larger it would be even better but it’s already very thick so it would be too heavy.
Magritte is an amazing painter. You can really see Dali’s influence.
As someone with no artistic talent whatsoever, I was surprised to see Magritte’s lament that “Although painting technique was important to Magritte, it was nevertheless far from his primary concern. He often stated that he was bored by the act of painting as he drove to represent things in precise detail, a necessary condition for paintings to produce their effect. The main thing for him was to find the image. The rest was mere execution.”
Magritte is an amazing painter. You can really see Dali’s influence.
As someone with no artistic talent whatsoever, I was surprised to see Magritte’s lament that “Although painting technique was important to Magritte, it was nevertheless far from his primary concern. He often stated that he was bored by the act of painting as he drove to represent things in precise detail, a necessary condition for paintings to produce their effect. The main thing for him was to find the image. The rest was mere execution.”
May 16, 2025
I read them through the book in one day such a beautiful delight. Rene art is one of the greatest you’ll ever see to me at least. It hits very deeply in my soul and it influenced my art forever, changed my life. Every time I see his art it makes him want to pick up a brush and start painting. His art makes me cry for joy, happiness, and sadness
August 31, 2025
5 gwiazdek za same obrazy i za przyjemność z ich oglądania. Tekst, który się pojawia jest niestety nudny, co jest klątwą zbiorów obrazów w takiej podręcznej formie.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews