René François Ghislain Magritte (October 2021)

Photograph of Rene Magritte, in front of his painting The Pilgrim, as taken by Lothar Wolleh
Photograph of Rene Magritte, in front of his painting The Pilgrim, as taken by Lothar Wolleh

René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist artist. He painted common everyday objects in odd contexts. He sought to challenge his viewers to question whether art is really able to represent an object. Witty and thought provoking, his art influenced artists such as Andy Warhol, Jan Verdoodt, and Jasper Johns.

In his famous painting, “The Treachery of Images”, he questions the relationship between language and meaning. By combining the image and words in this way, he makes the viewer see that the painting of a pipe is no more an actual pipe, than a picture of a pipe can be smoked.

Magritte's "La Trahison des Images" ("The Treachery of Images") (1928-9) or "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe"). Sometimes translated as "The Betrayal of Images" By René Magritte, 1898-1967. The work is now owned by and exhibited at LACMA.
Magritte’s “La Trahison des Images” (“The Treachery of Images”) (1928-9) or “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”). Sometimes translated as “The Betrayal of Images” By René Magritte, 1898-1967. The work is now owned by and exhibited at LACMA.

His small painting of an apple, owned by Paul McCartney, is believed to have been the inspiration for the name and logo of the Beatles’ record company, Apple Records. It was later adopted by Steve Jobs, for the Apple computer logo. Magritte also uses an apple in his self-portrait Son of Man (below).

René François Ghislan Magritte was born November 21, 1898 and died August 15, 1967 at 68 years of age.

The Son of Man painting consists of a man in an overcoat and a bowler hat standing in front of a low wall, beyond which is the sea and a cloudy sky. A green apple hides the man's face.
The Son of Man, by René Magritte via wikipedia

~ooOOoo~

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