René Magritte: Shades of Things to Come

René Magritte - Bather - 1925 - Oil on canvas - 20 x 39 in - 50 x 100 cm - Palais des beaux-arts de Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium (click photo for larger image)Belgian artist Renée Magritte (1898-1967) created work that frequently displays a juxtaposition of ordinary objects, or an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. The mystery that emerges from this approach is for what he is best known.
In the elegant work featured here, we have a fine example of Magritte's early attempts to find a restrained, illustrative style. We can recognize many of the elements that characterized his later paintings, such as the prominence of the sea and the mysterious sphere in the background. This work also bears the influence of Magritte's professional forays into the world of fashion advertising. Always evident in Magritte’s work is his extraordinary ability as a draughtsman.
You can read about Magritte elsewhere on What About Art?


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