You can run.
But you cannot hide.
Chagritte will get you.
~ grabbed from #BrusselsLockDown Tweets on cats
One of the cat pictures tweeted in #BrusselsLockdown is this one, with a cool and collected cat sitting in a bowler hat. It took me a while to catch the nuance that this was a takeoff on the work of the Belgian surrealist artist, Rene Magritte. The name "Chagritte" is derived from "chat" (meaning cat), and Magritte.
Some commentators pointed out how the Belgian tweets of cats, in response to the police request not to post their location, was surreal. Indeed the spontaneous and vigorous postings of cats had whimsy and humor. It was unexpected and somewhat strange given this was a fearful time for the Belgians. It was a wonderful response, a way of countering the negative energy created by the "dark side."
Here's a brief bio of Rene Magritte from biography.com:
René Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. After attending art school in Brussels, he worked in commercial advertising to support himself while he experimented with his painting. In the mid 1920s he began to paint in the surrealist style and became known for his witty and thought-provoking images and his use of simple graphics and everyday objects, giving new meanings to familiar things. With a popularity that increased over time, Magritte was able to pursue his art full-time and was celebrated in several international exhibitions. He experimented with numerous styles and forms during his life and was a primary influence on the pop art movement. He died in 1967.
Here are some of Magritte's works with bowler hats:
The Pilgrim, courtesy of Wikiart
The Mysteries of the Horizon, courtesy of renegritte.org
High Society, courtesy of wikiart
There are more images by Magritte, which you can find in the internet.
He's the second painter who's caught my eye recently, along with the symbolist painter Gustav Klimt whose work we saw in Vienna.
The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt, courtesy of Wilipedia
Read also
Tags: Rene Magritte, Chagritte, art, paintings, surrealist, #art, #brusselslockdown, Belgium, Belgian, artist
This is all for now,
No comments:
Post a Comment