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René Magritte: 1898-1967

November 21, 2016 By Wendy Campbell

magritteBorn on November 21, 1898 in Lessines, Belgium, René François Ghislain Magritte was a major figure in the Surrealist movement and is considered by many to be the greatest Belgian artist of the 20th century. From 1916 to 1918, Magritte studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels under Constant Montald and his early paintings were Impressionistic in style. Between 1919 and 1924, Magritte was influenced by Futurism and abstraction under the influence of Cubo-Futurism. He was particularly impressed by the work of Giorgio de Chirico. However, “his doubts about abstract art led him to reintroduce more overt imagery into his work.”

By 1921, Magritte had completed his service in the Belgian infantry after which he worked as a draughtsman for a wallpaper factory and a poster and advertisement designer. In 1922, he married Georgette Berger whom he had known since childhood. In 1926, Magritte gained a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels which enabled him to paint full-time. He had his first solo exhibition there in 1927. From 1927 to 1930, Magritte lived in Le Perreux-sur-Marne, near Paris, where he associated with Surrealists including Jean Arp, André Breton, Salvador Dalí, Paul Eluard, and Joan Miró. From the 1920s, Magritte also experimented with black-and-white still photography, “borrowing subjects from his paintings in order to record unconventional staged situations.”

“Magritte played an important role in the foundation of the primarily literary Belgian Surrealist group in 1926. He was also active in the formation of the group’s theories, which were developed independently from those of the French Surrealists. While the French strove for a transcendent experience of reality through the expression of the unconscious, Magritte tried to reach the same goal by consciously disrupting conventions for representing reality. In order to express his views about mysterious and inexplicable levels of experience beyond surface appearances, he changed the conventional order of objects, altered form, created new objects and redefined the relationship of words to images.”

Magritte is known for his “standardized human types” especially the man in the bowler hat who makes numerous appearances in his paintings. “Words and texts also began to play an important part in the paintings as a way of provoking an analysis of conventional assumptions as in the Treachery of Images (1929), in which a precise image of a pipe is accompanied by an inscription, ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’, that draws our attention to the essential difference between an actual object and its representation in two dimensions.”

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Magritte and his brother Paul opened Studio Dongo in Brussels where they produced work for advertising and publicity including stands, displays, posters, advertising texts, drawings, and photo-montages. Magritte exhibited only twice at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels during this time. In 1938, his friend E. L. T. Mesens purchased the stock of Galerie la Centaure and moved to London, where he became director of the London Gallery. Through this action, Magritte gained greater recognition in Great Britain.

In reaction to WWII, Magritte adopted a more colourful, “painterly” style. “From 1943 even making use of a parody of Impressionism with lighter colours, while maintaining the Surrealist character of the imagery. Although he was consciously mocking Impressionism, such works were strongly criticized in Surrealist circles.” Following this, Magritte created a whimsical body of oil paintings and gouaches which he exhibited in his first solo show in Paris at the Galerie du Faubourg. The style of these works were somewhat related to Fauvism and were partly a way of “attacking what he considered the superficiality of the French public.”

In 1948, Magritte, already having considerable recognition as a part of the Surrealist group, became internationally famous when he signed a contract with New York Dealer Alexandre Iolas. From 1953, he exhibited often at the galleries of Alexander Iolas in New York, Paris and Geneva. Retrospectives were held in 1954 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and in 1960 at the Museum for Contemporary Arts, Dallas, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. From 1956, Magritte also produced a series of short and often humorous Surrealist films, using friends as directors and actors. Magritte’s critical and popular recognition continued to grow during and after the 1960s. In 1965, Magritte traveled to New York for the first time for his retrospective at Museum of Modern Art.

René Magritte died from cancer of the pancreas on August 15, 1967. His work has influenced generations of artists, including Pop, minimalist, and conceptual art.

Rene Magritte - The Treachery of Images - 1928-29
Rene Magritte - Time Transfixed - 1938
Rene Magritte - The Son of Man - 1954
Rene Magritte - The Human Condition - 1935
Rene Magritte - Threatening Weather - 1929
Rene Magritte - The Spirit of Adventure - 1962
Rene Magritte - The Empty Mask - 1928
Rene Magritte - The Voice of The Winds - 1928
Rene Magritte - The Menaced Assassin
Rene Magritte - The Lovers II - 1928
Rene Magritte - The Art of Living - 1967
Rene Magritte - On The Threshhold of Liberty - 1929
Rene Magritte - Self Portrait - 1923
Rene Magritte - La Thérapeute - 1941
Rene Magritte - La Beau Monde
Rene Magritte - Gonconda - 1953
Rene Magritte - The Listening Room - 1958
Rene Magritte - The False Mirror - 1928

Sources: MoMA, Wikipedia, Guggenheim

Filed Under: ART, Art History, Painting Tagged With: Belgian Art, cubo-futurism, Magritte Birthday, René Magritte, Surrealism

Dirk de Keyzer: Sculpture

March 17, 2012 By Wendy Campbell

Chi-Dirk de Keyser

Dirk de Keyzer was born in Sleidinge, Belgium in 1958. He has traveled his own path in the world of sculpture for more than twenty years and has known the difficult first steps of all struggling artists, the hard work and the wait for recognition. De Keyzer’s bronze sculptures are cast using the lost wax process and are produced in series of 8 copies + 4 artist proofs. He sculpts mostly elegant, determined women, but also eccentric men both having a touch of humour.

To see more of de Keyzer’s work, visit DirkdeKeyzer.com.




Filed Under: ART, Sculpture Tagged With: Belgian Art, Dirk de Keyzer

Jef Bertels: Painting/Drawing

September 24, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Cool stuff from Belgian artist Jef Bertels.

“My father had a library full of science fiction, and an indestructible light-hearted look on life. My mother was more serious of nature, but had a talent for drawing and painting effortlessly. Batman, spaceship Orion, and the films of Karel Zeman are among my very first memories.  Stories were about traveling through space, time, or the human vascular system. By the western window of our living room, next to the bookshelves full of imaginary worlds, there was a small desk. I sat there every day drawing, often for many hours. Besides reading, I didn’t do much else. Our family wasn’t extraordinary, but fantasy was welcome.”

To see more, visit JefBertels.be.




Filed Under: ART, Drawing Tagged With: Belgian Art, Jef Bertels

ROA: New Works

May 15, 2011 By Wendy Campbell

Belgian street artist ROA recently finished up a solo exhibition at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco. He also left a few pieces on the streets of San Fran before leaving town.

“ROA got his start by painting intriguing murals of animals in hidden places – underneath bridges and on walls that strayed from the beaten path. A darling of the underground street art scene, photos of his work regularly appear on Vandalog, Brooklyn Street Art, Wooster Collective, Unurth, and a fury of London newspapers and blogs running to his defense when a street piece he did in Hackney faced removal late last year. ROA is earnestly repopulating the cityscape with animals, as a way to have them re-enter the contemporary landscape that was once theirs.” (White Walls Gallery).

Check out more of ROA’s work on his Flickr photostream.




Discovered via: Arrested Motion

Filed Under: ART, Mixed Media, Street Art Tagged With: Animals, Belgian Art, ROA, urban art

Stephane Halleux: Sculpture

January 5, 2010 By Wendy Campbell

Beauty-Machine-Stephane Hallelux

Knowing my affinity for Steampunk, fellow artist and blogger Esther Barend,  brought  the creations of Belgian sculptor Sephane Halleux  to my attention a little while ago, and I am happy to share his works today.

Halleux studied illustration at Saint Luc in Liege, Belgium from 1992-1995 and began a career at an animation film studio in Luxemburg, first as a colorist, and then as a layout artist. After seven years, he became frustrated by the lack of creativity and industrialization of animation, and left to work in a “bank-sale” furniture company where his passion for “old treasures” emerged.

His first exhibitions in 2005 were a great success and since that time, Halleux has been able pursue sculpting full-time.

To see more of Halleux’s work, visit StephaneHalleux.com.

 

Beauty-Machine-Stephane Hallelux

Sources: Device Gallery

Filed Under: ART, Sculpture Tagged With: Belgian Art, Steampunk, Stephane Halleux

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