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Magritte

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Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

25 people want to read

About the author

René Magritte

107 books77 followers
René 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.

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Fraser Sherman.
Author 10 books33 followers
December 17, 2017
A great collection of Magritte's paintings (and collages and sculpture) showing many of the famous images and giving the background on their creation. The text details Magritte's lack of interest in fame (which may be one reason he's not as well known as Dali), and his desire to create paintings that shocked with illogical mixes of images, rather than symbolizing or dramatizing a hidden meaning. If you like Magritte, this is outstanding.
Profile Image for Teddy Farias.
120 reviews3 followers
June 22, 2020
Great essays, some mention art works but not all the art work is shown.
Profile Image for Michael.
1,078 reviews199 followers
September 20, 2009
Beautiful. I'm so glad to have a Magritte collection and this one would only be bested by a complete catalogue. Magritte greatly influenced my artistic vision and my worldview in my teens and twenties. His work reaches into my heart.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

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