SHGC History Of Art - Part 6
- 1. The Menaced Assassin 1927 Displays the startling and disturbing juxtapositions of the ordinary, the strange and the erotic that characterised his work. The Assassin has turned his back upon those watching him, does not notice those about to apprehend him. He is observing musical sounds – functioning in another way, conducting himself with indifference towards the obvious threat posed by reality.
- 2. The Menaced Assassin – Mr Potato Man The Missing ear.
- 4. Collective Invention 1934 A back to front mermaid lying stranded upon the seashore – not with the tail of a fish and a woman’s upper body, as we normally encounter in fairytales and myths, but with the head of a fish and a human lower body.
- 5. The Listening Room 1958
- 6. A meticulous, skillful technician, he is noted for works that contain an extraordinary juxtaposition of ordinary objects or an unusual context that gives new meaning to familiar things. This juxtaposition is frequently termed magic realism, of which Magritte was the prime exponent.
- 8. The Son of Man 1964 This painting of a green apple floating in front of the face of a otherwise conventional man. Magritte said about the painting, “Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden…” Because of the title, one thinks it may be the apple that was handed to Adam by Eve that the man is being blinded by. Adam can’t see beyond the delicious apple, and we can’t see him. Magritte also painted a similar painting with an apple and called it The Great War. Here you’d think it was nature and many other things blinding the man from seeing.
- 9. Carte Blanche 1965 Empire of the Lights 1954
- 10. Portrait of Edward James 1937 Golconde 1953
- 11. The Lovers 1928 During the summer of 1928 Magritte painted a number of figures with the face and head covered by some kind of cloth. In this painted version of The Lovers, the couple stand cheek to cheek. He also made a large version where the lovers are kissing while covered in the same way. Magritte’s mother was unhappy during his childhood and attempted suicide a number of times. In 1912, when Magritte was 14 his mother left the house and drowned herself in the river. When her body was pulled from the river many days later her face was covered by her night dress. Young Magritte saw the corpse bare with the face wrapped and this image, disturbing and erotic was left in his memory. Magritte made many paintings about death by drowning and tragedy in water, as well as disturbing images of faces draped with a cloth.
- 12. The Lovers II
- 13. Chateau
- 14. The Red Model 1934
- 16. Chance in art. How did the use of automatism and accident influence the development of Dada and Surrealism Assess the importance of chance and automatism in the creation of Dada and Surrealist Art. How and why did Dada and Surrealists artists use chance and automatism to create art? Refer to specific examples in your answer. In what ways were chance and automatism used to make Dada and Surrealist art?
- 17. Surrealist aims and approaches How did the Surrealist artists explore the potential of the subconscious when creating their art? Define the aims pf biomorphic and representational Surrealism with reference to specific works representative of each style. List, with reference to appropriate works, the characteristics of the two main styles of Surrealism.