René Magritte (November 21, 1898 – August 15, 1967) was a Surrealist artist, born in Lessines, Belgium. In 1912, Magritte’s mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the river Sambre.
He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. Magritte held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. The exhibition was not a success: critics heaped abuse on it. He was depressed by the failure of his show and he moved to Paris.
A consummate technician, his work frequently contains a juxtaposition of ordinary objects or an unusual context giving new meanings to familiar things. In addition to these fantastic elements, his work is often witty and amusing, and he created a number of surrealist versions of other famous paintings.
Rene Magritte described his paintings saying, “My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, ‘What does that mean?’. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.”
Magritte’s work was shown in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospectives, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.
Magritte, Rene
1968 Etching and aquatint in colors on Japon nacre Stamped signature, and hand-numbered in pencil 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches (27.3 x 21.6 cm), unframed Edition of 150 SOLD1968 from Signe de Survie au Temps d'Amour Etching and aquatint in colors on Japan paper With artists stamped signature and annotated “H.C” 8 ½ x 10 7/8 in (21.8 x 27.5 cm), unframed Edition of 150 + HC Printed by Atelier Georges Visat with the blind stamp ‘Gravure Original Atelier René Magritte’ (Kaplan and Baum 13) SOLD1967 Original etching on Arches paper 9 1/2 x 12 in. (24 x 30.5 cm), unframed Stamped signed, numbered in pencil Edition of 150 SOLD1965 Original Lithographic Poster 26 ½ x 20 in SOLD1965 Original Lithographic Poster 28 x 20 in SOLDHe studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. Magritte held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. The exhibition was not a success: critics heaped abuse on it. He was depressed by the failure of his show and he moved to Paris.
A consummate technician, his work frequently contains a juxtaposition of ordinary objects or an unusual context giving new meanings to familiar things. In addition to these fantastic elements, his work is often witty and amusing, and he created a number of surrealist versions of other famous paintings.
Rene Magritte described his paintings saying, “My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, ‘What does that mean?’. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.”
Magritte’s work was shown in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospectives, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.