What influenced Rene magritte?

Answer 1

Background and Training

· As a child: Magritte was always attached to the magic of painting à certain that he was going to become a painter

· 1916: after persuading father à began training at Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels

· Attended classes of: drawing, decorative painting, ornamental composition

o used a dry, matter of fact technique in his paintings à categorised much of his work from then on

· Was a painter until his death

Influence of Surrealism

· Surrealism began as a literary movement founded by poet Andre Brenton

· Strongly influenced by WW1 and Dada

· Dada: Marcel Duchamp

o Influence on The Treachery of Images: uses a technique to allow the viewer to rethink their thoughts of his artworks

· Surrealists believed à had the power and duty to change life

· Uniting the conscious and unconscious experiences completely à dream and fantasy were joined to everyday world

o Used an object that is harmless à re-scaled that object à portray something that is quite menacing and beyond the viewers logical understanding

Cinematic Influence

· Feudillado's cinematic five part series à Fantomas (1913-14) portrays:

o businessmen with no expression wearing black bowler hats

o corridors

o rooftops of Paris

o intense shadows

§ Magritte uses the same figure

§ "The Son of Man"

Georgio de Chirico

· 1919: Work of Georgio de Chirico à "The Song of Love" à portrayed strange juxtaposition of objects à Magritte was certain he wanted to become a painter

o 1935: Usual objects in a strange context à different meaning à The Human Condition

· 1919: displayed work for first time à influence of early Cubist à Picasso

· Artworks from 1918-24: influence of Futurism

· 1925: strong influence of Matisse