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René Magritte

On 19th November 2024 in Christie’s New York, a painting by René Magritte achieved a record breaking price for the artist’s work at a price of USD 121.16m. That painting was titled L’empire des lumières (1954). Merely two years ago, the last record set by Magritte for another artwork from the same series titled L’empire des lumières (1961) was sold at USD 79.24m in Sotheby’s London. René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who was active as an artist up to 1967 when he passed away. These recent sales continue to solidify Magritte’s position as one of the forefront Surrealist artists. On top of smashing his own record price, the latest record also sets the highest price for any Surrealist artwork.

“Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”) at the Magritte Museum. Image by Von Chua.

Having revisited the Magritte Museum in Belgium earlier this month to view his dream-like artworks shrouded in mystery, this recent news came as a pleasant surprise. Not afraid of using words and texts within his artwork, one may have seen his painting with “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”) written directly under a smoking pipe drawn. It seems like a contradiction, but when Magritte was asked about it, his witty response was that of course it was not a pipe - try to fill it with tobacco. Of course! His response explains his thinking that it is a painting of a pipe, not an actual pipe. As you read his text “This is not a pipe”, you would have been reading it from his painting. This particular artwork has also sparked other creatives and brands such as Delvaux to issue a leather goods bag with the text “Ceci n’est pas une Delvaux”  (“This is not a Delvaux”) written on it. Delvaux, who happens to be founded in Belgium in 1829 is one of the oldest luxury leather goods companies in the world.

Tracing back to Magritte’s early works, one can see that his early works can be traced back to influences from Cubism, Futurism, and also the Dada period. Margritte attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels in 1916 and had traditional and classical training. It was said that he rejected the conventional trends within the art scene at that time. His work which can be seen today challenges the viewer’s assumptions about the world, challenges the mind with intellectual inquiry through daily objects such as a pipe in those days, and blurs objects within reality and the dream state.

The Human Condition (1962) at the Magritte Museum. Image by Von Chua.

Compared to other Surrealist artists, Magritte’s sketches and paintings have a realistic quality to them. For example, The Human Condition (1962) seen in the above image showcases Magritte painting the scene where a painting is set in front of a window. And if you blink quickly, the painting itself and the actual view outside the window merge into one. Returning to the idea of the Ceci n’est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe) artwork, Magritte is once again playing with visual paradoxes. When Magritte was alive, his peers such as Salvador Dali and Joan Miro who were also active around the same time were developing their art within a more abstract and dreamlike quality, exploring the human subconsciousness. Magritte’s precise use of lines and deep colours also pairs well with the occasional contrast, such as the sky and the clouds that often reappear in his paintings to represent the nature of reality.

The signages and labellings in the Magritte Museum are not the most thoroughly considered for the English speaking crowd. Though the museum was filled with tourists from Europe, USA and Asia alike, who are unlikely to all be fluent in French, the artworks presented appear to transcend the language barrier. Does it matter if some of Magritte’s texts or descriptions are not literally translated for understanding? According to Magritte, if he explained his artwork, it would remove the mystery too. If Magritte planned the museum’s experience himself, would he have consciously and deliberately set up these moments of mystery too to allow viewers to interpret his or her own view of a painting?

It means nothing because mystery means nothing… Art is art, and everyone has their own interpretation.

René Magritte

In this second visit to the Magritte Museum, I also read further into Magritte’s personal life. He had a muse and confidant, Gaby Matalon, who modelled for some of his paintings and was someone he had a passionate connection with. It was said that the affair with Matalon was known by Magritte’s wife Georgette Berger; Magritte and his wife Georgette remained married until he passed away. Upon closer inspection, the complicated relationship in Magritte’s personal life slowly unravels within his work and can be detected within his exploration of the theme of concealment and frustrated desires. These themes perhaps reflected his inner thoughts and were the outlet for the frustrations in his personal life. For example, in a painting titled The Lovers (1928), Magritte paints an intimate embrace between two lovers, but there is a layer of fabric covering the two people’s faces, concealing the people and also preventing the intimate embrace between the two lovers. Was this Magritte’s frustrations captured on canvas? Within the same year, Magritte also created another three pieces of artwork; The Lovers (1928) is part of a four-part painting. Does he always work on themes that surround his life at each moment? Magritte appears to be a complex person, and his work as an artist almost acts as a series of intellectual challenges that interrogate the various themes that interest him.