Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Surrealist Artist Review

René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist painter. Born in November of 1898, Magritte grew up through traumatic adversity. His Mother was suicidal through the early years of his life. In fact, it was severe to the point of his Father being forced to lock her in a room. She unfortunately escaped and drowned herself in a river. When she was found, her dress was covering her face—an image found in many of Magritte’s paintings (ex. Les Amants). Not much is known of Magritte’s early life; it is apparent it was quite tragic. René began taking drawing lessons in 1910. His career took off in 1915. He was one of the biggest components of surrealism and was celebrated immensely throughout Belgium.
Erik Johansson is a surrealist photographer. Born April 1985 in Sweden, Erik has a knack for creativity. He captures his ideas in unimaginable forms by combining photographs together. He transforms images through software’s much like Adobe Photoshop.

Artist’s Name: René Magritte
Title: The Treachery of Images
Date: 1928-29
Description: A picture of a brown, gold, and black pipe with a yellow background. Meant to look realistic, hence the effect of light shining off of the surface of the pipe. Under it, a French sentence, “Ceci n'est pas une pipe.” Which means, “This is not a pipe.”
Analysis: This picture provides great depth and is incredibly thought-provoking much like many of Migrette’s other works. It explains the theory that the pipe is merely an image of a pipe—not an actual pipe.
Interpretation: In the deepest interpretation, I believe this tries to explain the true nature of reality. It represents an idea of forms, hinting that it isn’t the primary form of a pipe. Judgement: In conclusion, I think that Magritte did an exceptional job explaining the meaning behind this painting. The painting is in fact an image of a pipe, not an actual pipe. This can be shown through great detail and the sentence.




Artist’s Name: Erik Johansson
Title: A painting too real
Date: 2008
Description: A picture of a lady holding a picture of a boat dock. As she tilts the picture, it begins to leak. As the title states, it’s a picture too real.
Analysis: This picture is incredibly well-done. It looks as if the picture frame is actually leaking water from the dock. Almost as if it’s titled just enough to spill out water. On top of that, you can see the ladies reflection in the water and it appears as if it is actually splashing off the floor.
Interpretation: I can’t see any deep meaning behind this photograph, but the idea is apparent. The picture looks legitimately real. It absolutely looks as if the water is dripping out of the picture frame.
 Judgement: In conclusion, I think that Johansson did an outstanding job on this photo. The idea behind it brilliant and he carried it out very successfully. It’s hard to look away from this photograph.
Compare and Contrast

Magritte and Johansson grew up living two very different lives. While little is known about both men, it is recognized that Magritte went through some tragic events growing up; this including the disturbing death of his mother. On the other hand, however, there is no such knowledge of Johansson’s childhood. I believe that the two artists differences growing up have clear effects on their work. For example, Magritte makes paintings full of emotion—even symbolizing his Mother’s dress, whereas Johansson’s works are more creative and joyous. 

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