Magritte Rene (Rene Magritte)

Magritte Rene (Rene Magritte)

fr. René Francois Ghislain Magritte - the Belgian artist.

Biography

Was born in the small town of Lessin of a French-speaking part of Belgium. Rene was a senior from three sons in family. His father was a direct-sales representative, in family there was never any artist. In 1910 when he was 12 years old, his family moves to the city on the Shatlino River last time. At this time he takes the first lessons of painting. Here his mother was drowned at night in the river (the corpse was found with the head wound by a shirt, circumstances of death are not opened).

In 18 years Magritte began study in Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels which left in 1918.

In army Magritte meets Pierre Bourgeois who worked as the editor of the magazine about art. Bourgeois shows it works of the Italian futurists under an impression of which he wrote the whole series of futuristic works. However painting does not bring any income, and it begins to work at factory of paper products where remains up to 1926.

1927-1930 Magritte with the wife moves to France and lives near Paris. The group of his friends artists often gathers in Magritte's house or at the Parisian restaurants. This group is called by "the Belgian surrealists". During this period he participated in meetings of club of André Breton and even writes for his magazine, spends time on the Spanish coast in Salvador Dalí's house.

In 1930 he moves back to Brussels. Because of material problems in addition to painting continues to be engaged in design activity.

1936 - a personal exhibition of Magritte in Julien Levy's gallery, the city of New York.

1938 - an exhibition in the London Gallery.

1937-1939 the artist gives public lectures.

During invasion of the German army on the territory of Belgium Magritte runs on the South of France. In 1950 there take place big exhibitions in Rome, London, Paris, New York.

1952 - 1953 Magritte works on decoration of the walls of the hall of casino "Knokk" and on frescos of Royal theater of Brussels.

1954 - a retrospective exhibition of works of Magritte in the Palace of fine arts. In two years to the artist awarded the prestigious prize Guggenkheyma "as to the outstanding representative of culture of Belgium".

On August 15, 1967 René Magritte died in Brussels from cancer.

Cinema in the artist's life

Since the childhood René Magritte fell in love with cinema. Together with the brother often watched silent black-and-white cinema popular at that time. In Magritte's works throughout all life it is possible to meet images from movies "Fantomas" of 1914 of the director Louis Feyad, "Flash-like transformations" of 1899 of Georges Melies. René Magritte shot also the home film for friends and the wife, these are generally short comic sketches on creativity and art (fragments of its home videos can be seen in the movie "Monsieur Rene Magritte" of 1978)

Private life

In 14 years on exhibition roundabouts he got acquainted with Zhorzhetta Berger, the future wife. In 1922 he married it, they lived together till 1967, to the death of the artist. All female images on Magritte's cloths are images of his wife.

Creativity

Till 1930 Magritte uses exclusively borrowed images and the ideas. He is inspired by works of the Italian surrealists, Giorgio de Querico's pictures, Fernand Leger, poetry of dadaists.

Self-portrait of 1925.

Window of 1925.

Blue cinema of 1925.

Bather of 1925.

1926 - Magritte wrote a cloth of own art vision "The lost jockey". Magritte considered this picture the first successful picture.

After moving to France Magritte writes pictures rebuses:

Interesting Facts

• Magritte never created an unusual image of the artist, led ordinary life. Often happened it worked in the dining room and postponed brushes when served dinner.
• The artist hated travel, especially by the airplane and the car. The only car of the artist served five days, trams were a fixed asset of its movement.
• His last work which remained unfinished still is in René Magritte's house museum.

Links

The website of the museum of René Magritte in Belgium