His decision to remain in Belgium following the Nazi occupation caused a split between him and André Breton, and the suffering and violence caused by the war led him away from the often dark and chaotic moods of surrealism. However, the onset of World War II would soon alter the course of his life and art. In the late 1930s, Magritte’s newfound popularity resulted in exhibitions of his work in New York City and London. Though the demands of their studio left Magritte little time for his own work over the next few years, interest in his paintings began to grow and soon he was selling enough to leave his commercial work behind. Over the next few years, he produced important works such as The Lovers and The False Mirror and also began to experiment with the use of text, as seen in his 1929 painting The Treachery of Images.īut despite the progress Magritte was making in his art, he had yet to find significant financial success, and in 1930, he and Georgette returned to Brussels, where he set up an ad agency with his younger brother Paul. Settling in the Perreux-sur-Marne suburb of Paris, Magritte quickly fell in with some of surrealism’s brightest lights and founding fathers, including writer André Breton, poet Paul Éluard and artists Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst and Joan Miró. But when his first one-man show-in 1927 at the Galerie le Centaure-was poorly received, a disheartened Magritte left his homeland for France. With early works such as The Lost Jockey and The Menaced Assassin, Magritte quickly became one of the most important artists in Belgium and found himself at the center of its nascent surrealist movement. Placing familiar, mundane objects such as bowler hats, pipes and rocks in unusual contexts and juxtapositions, Magritte evoked themes of mystery and madness to challenge the assumptions of human perception. Around this time, Magritte saw the painting The Song of Love by Italian surrealist Giorgio de Chirico and was so struck by its imagery that it sent his own work off in the new direction for which he would become known. After a brief stint in a wallpaper factory, he found work as a freelance poster and advertisement designer while he continued to paint. In 1921, Magritte began his one year of compulsory military service before returning home and marrying Georgette Berger, whom he had known since he was a boy and with whom he would stay for the rest of his life. Indeed, many of Magritte’s paintings from the early 1920s owe a clear debt to Pablo Picasso. Although he was ultimately unimpressed with the institution, he was nonetheless exposed to emerging styles such as cubism and futurism, which significantly altered the direction of his work. However, in 1916, he left home for Brussels, where for the next two years he studied at Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. His earliest surviving works from this era were accomplished in the impressionist style. Magritte found solace from the tragedy in films and novels and especially through painting. Magritte’s young world was dealt a far more destructive blow in 1912, when his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in a river. His father’s manufacturing business at times allowed the family to live in relative comfort, but financial difficulties were a constant threat and forced them to move about the country with some regularity. René François Ghislain Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium, on November 21, 1898, the oldest of three boys. He experimented with numerous styles and forms during his life and was a primary influence on the pop art movement. With a popularity that increased over time, Magritte was able to pursue his art full-time and was celebrated in several international exhibitions. In the 1920s, he began to paint in the surrealist style and became known for his witty images and his use of simple graphics and everyday objects, giving new meanings to familiar things. After attending art school in Brussels, he worked in commercial advertising to support himself while he experimented with his painting. René Magritte was a Belgian-born artist who was known for his work with surrealism as well as his thought-provoking images.
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