Welcome to the brand new Arthive! Discover a full list of new features here.

The ignorant fairy

René Magritte • Painting, 1950, 50×65 cm
Comments
0
About the artwork
This artwork was added since it is referred to in the materials below
Art form: Painting
Subject and objects: Portrait
Style of art: Surrealism
Technique: Oil
Materials: Canvas
Date of creation: 1950
Size: 50×65 cm
Artwork in selections: 15 selections

Description of the artwork «The ignorant fairy»

Written in 1950, “The Ignorant Fairy” by Rene Magritte expresses the work of an already established artist and thinker, who not only explored the different facets of surrealism, but also managed to discover a new bewitching refraction of one of the most influential and saturated art trends of the twentieth century.

The source, starting point of a philosophical journey with Magritte may be the simplest phrase. “Yes, there is more life in this pan than in you!” - the wife shouts to her husband. If we are French provincials of the 18th century, then we will write off this phrase on the sentimentality of women. But if we are people of wide views, then we will try to transfer it to the philosophical plane and, perhaps, we will understand that the other person is interesting to us because of his vitality, and not because of his material form.
But how to show vitality itself, not form? It is precisely this question that artists often try to answer, which is why surrealism has acquired such colossal significance for world art.
Rene Magritte answers it in his own way and calls his style “magical realism”, which gives the picture the vitality that a man fascinates when looking at his beloved woman.
What do we see in the picture? The left half of the face is in heavenly purity, while the right half is consecrated by the fire of passion (the sign of the candle is a symbol of the vagina: do not forget about Freud's theories and their reflection in the art of surrealists). But the candle flame is black, because this passion is special. She can incinerate the true appearance of a woman - we see blackened hair - or find her harmonious embodiment in the form of a sphere as a symbol of eternal knowledge and mystery. We can never see the ball completely at one point in time, but we can twist it endlessly in our hands. The sphere in the picture of Magritte is on the background of red matter, which is the revealed passion. Well, at the sight of the image presented in such an unusual and new light, we both admire and fear - isn’t it that the man perceives the woman he likes?

It is worth noting that this picture, along with the work of other surrealists, inspired David Lynch to create the image of Laura Palmer in the movie “Twin Peaks”.


Author: Denis Nushtaev

Comments