René Magritte was one of the major surrealist artists of all time, but “it was not until he reached [his] 50s, when he was finally able to reach some form of fame and recognition for his work” (www.renemagritte.org). Magritte was born on November 21, 1898, in Lessines, Belgium, and passed away at the age of 68 on August 15, 1967. Magritte studied at the Academie des Beaux-Art located in Brussels from 1916 to 1918, but shortly after he left the school because he felt that it was not worth his time. He described the paintings he made by saying, “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, it is unknowable” (Magritte).
Out of all of Magritte’s beautiful paintings, I decided to focus on the one pictured below called The Lovers II, which is “the [second painting] in a series of four variations of Les Amants that Magritte painted in 1928” (www.moma.org). A man and a woman are depicted in the painting embracing one another. They are both shrouded with a white veil covering their faces, and they are passionately kissing. This work clearly reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism because it portrays surrealism. The way that Magritte took the surrealist approach of concealing both of the subjects with a veil fits with “a larger Surrealist interest in masks, disguises, and what lies beyond or beneath visible surfaces” (www.moma.org). Surrealism can be defined as a style of art that forces artists to use their imaginations to create an image or an idea that is impractical or unrealistic. It is up to the viewer of the painting to create their own interpretations. The vast majority of people interpreted this artwork as a reflection of the human inability to fully recognize the true nature of even our most intimate companions (www.moma.org). An additional defining characteristic of modernism in this painting is symbolism. After learning about this particular interpretation of the painting, I realized that the enshrouded faces are meant to symbolize unrelenting passion for your “lover”. Even though these two people are unable to see each other through their eyes, they can still feel the other’s presence and touch. I interpreted this piece a bit differently since I believe that this painting is showing us how love can make you blind and it reminded me of the cliche phrase of being blinded by love. You don’t care how the person looks on the outside, you love them for who they are and appearance is the last thing on your mind.
As I walked around all the paintings on the 5th floor, I almost walked past this painting because it was smaller than most of the paintings I had seen. I decided I wanted to further inspect this strange painting so I came in for a closer look since I was confused as to why the faces were covered in such a way. From afar it looks to be a simple painting of a couple kissing, but the veils add a touch of mystery and it begs us to ask the question, is this an abstract portrayal of forbidden love or is it a painting of two wanted criminals trying to protect their identities?
External Sources:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79933?artist_id=3692&page=1&sov_referrer=artist
https://www.renemagritte.org/the-lovers-2.jsp
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/rene-magritte-the-lovers-le-perreux-sur-marne-1928/
I agree with you that this is a deeply mysterious painting. I always imagine that Magritte is saying something here about a relationship that seems intimate, yet is not fully intimate. Here the lovers are kissing, but there are separated by these layers of cloth. We are all sort of hidden to one another.