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The art of living
René Magritte • Painting, 1967, 65×54 cm
Description of the artwork «The art of living»
"The Art of Living" - a painting that Rene Magritte painted in 1967, shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer. In this context, especially in combination with the title, the work just wants to be written down in some semblance of a creative testament.
The artist wrote it for Alexander Iolas, a New York-based art dealer of Greek origin. Magritte began working with him in 1948, and after signing a contract with Iolas, he got the opportunity to exhibit his work in galleries in New York, Paris and Geneva, which brought him worldwide fame. Iolas exported Magritte's paintings to the United States to a significant extent, selling them to American collectors, among them the famous art patrons John and Dominique de Menil. And in 1965, Magritte first went to New York for his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
The painting "The Art of Living" contains two pairs of contrasts. The character in the center of the canvas is divided into parts: his body belongs to the classic character of Magritte - a man in a bowler hat, which is easy to understand from the invariable red tie and formal suit. But the head, hovering in the air above the body, seemed to have got there from a completely different opera. Disproportionately huge, defiantly bright in color, with incomparably small facial features, it looks more like either a surreal planet, or the sun from children's books.
Behind this controversial character is the same dual background. Most of it is occupied by rocky mountains that rise almost to the horizon, but they are separated from the hero of the picture by monolithic brickwork. What can these images mean? If we start from the name, then the following interpretation suggests itself: the art of living consists in a balance between following the natural course of things and relying on the efforts made (opposition of a natural landscape and a man-made wall).
As for the strange man, you can imagine that this is a rebus hiding the way of life of Magritte himself. On the one hand, the artist has always adhered to a rather conservative lifestyle, as for an art worker. He lived all his life with one wife, for a long time he painted in the kitchen and at the same time managed not to even stain the floor with paint. He was not involved in any special scandals or troubles - a strict suit is responsible for this side of the artist's personality in the picture.
But this image of an exemplary citizen does not correspond to his work: ironic, sometimes provocative, infinitely free in the flight of imagination. It is only thanks to such freedom that an ugly huge orange head can be attached to a decent body in all respects - and this is not the wildest combination of body parts thatallowed imagine a Belgian surrealist.
Although Magritte himself was against any attempts to interpret his work. “My painting is visible images that hide nothing behind them,” he said. - They awaken a mystery, and when a person sees my picture, he asks himself a simple question: "What does this mean?" But this does not mean anything, because the secret also does not mean anything, it is unknowable. "
The author: Natalia Azarenko
The artist wrote it for Alexander Iolas, a New York-based art dealer of Greek origin. Magritte began working with him in 1948, and after signing a contract with Iolas, he got the opportunity to exhibit his work in galleries in New York, Paris and Geneva, which brought him worldwide fame. Iolas exported Magritte's paintings to the United States to a significant extent, selling them to American collectors, among them the famous art patrons John and Dominique de Menil. And in 1965, Magritte first went to New York for his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.
The painting "The Art of Living" contains two pairs of contrasts. The character in the center of the canvas is divided into parts: his body belongs to the classic character of Magritte - a man in a bowler hat, which is easy to understand from the invariable red tie and formal suit. But the head, hovering in the air above the body, seemed to have got there from a completely different opera. Disproportionately huge, defiantly bright in color, with incomparably small facial features, it looks more like either a surreal planet, or the sun from children's books.
Behind this controversial character is the same dual background. Most of it is occupied by rocky mountains that rise almost to the horizon, but they are separated from the hero of the picture by monolithic brickwork. What can these images mean? If we start from the name, then the following interpretation suggests itself: the art of living consists in a balance between following the natural course of things and relying on the efforts made (opposition of a natural landscape and a man-made wall).
As for the strange man, you can imagine that this is a rebus hiding the way of life of Magritte himself. On the one hand, the artist has always adhered to a rather conservative lifestyle, as for an art worker. He lived all his life with one wife, for a long time he painted in the kitchen and at the same time managed not to even stain the floor with paint. He was not involved in any special scandals or troubles - a strict suit is responsible for this side of the artist's personality in the picture.
But this image of an exemplary citizen does not correspond to his work: ironic, sometimes provocative, infinitely free in the flight of imagination. It is only thanks to such freedom that an ugly huge orange head can be attached to a decent body in all respects - and this is not the wildest combination of body parts thatallowed imagine a Belgian surrealist.
Although Magritte himself was against any attempts to interpret his work. “My painting is visible images that hide nothing behind them,” he said. - They awaken a mystery, and when a person sees my picture, he asks himself a simple question: "What does this mean?" But this does not mean anything, because the secret also does not mean anything, it is unknowable. "
The author: Natalia Azarenko
