Rene Magritte
Rene Magritte
René François Ghislain Magrittewas a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images. Often depicting ordinary objects in an unusual context, his work is known for challenging observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality. His imagery has influenced pop, minimalist and conceptual art...
NationalityBelgian
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth21 November 1898
CityLessines, Belgium
CountryBelgium
My painting is visible images that conceal nothing... they evoke mystery. Mystery means nothing. It is unknowable.
I think we are responsible for the universe, but that doesn't mean we decide anything.
If one looks at a thing with the intention of trying to discover what it means, one ends up no longer seeing the thing itself, but of thinking of the question that is raised.
To be a surrealist means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been.
People who look for symbolic meaning fail to grasp the inherent poetry and mystery of the images.
My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.
We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world.
A truly poetic canvas is an awakened dream.
Only thought can resemble. It resembles by being what it sees, hears, or knows; it becomes what the world offers it.
The purpose of art is mystery.
I like subversive humor, freckles, women's knees and long hair, the laughter of playing children, and a girl running down the street.
Do not accept any explanation of the world either through chance or determinism. You are not responsible for your belief. It is not even you who decides that you are not responsible - and so on to infinity. You are not obliged to believe. There is no point of departure.
An object is not so attached to its name that we cannot find another one that would suit it better.
An object never serves the same function as its image - or its name.