M HKA Ensembles

Drawing, 23 x 17,5 cm.

Collection: Privécollectie.

René Magritte’s oeuvre is filled with the theme called ‘la condition humaine’. In the thirties he created two paintings with this exact name. On both canvases he depicts a painting within a painting: showing the duality between the painted visual and reality, even though both seem to be depicting the same image. This is Magritte’s answer to the question about the perception of reality: man is self-conscious, and yet he is not a representative of this consciousness. Time and space are depicted by the distance between the visual and reality, but at the same time between the real world and the fictitious one. Prime examples of this are Magritte’s landscapes, which are in fact mirages but the viewer believes and accepts them for reality and is thus a lot further removed from reality than he/she believes.

The artists’ fascination for this thinking process is especially noticeable in the drawings published in Les Chants de Maldoror (1968-1969), a poetic novel or long prose written by Comte de Lautréamont during the second half of the 19th century. During the 20th century, many surrealists (like Salvador Dalí, André Breton, Antonin Artaud, Max Ernst) praised this prose poem for its transgressive and absurd nature and the effect it has on the senses. This poem has influenced the (French) Symbolism (for example Redon) and Dadaism stylistic movements.

In these drawings, we see Magritte using a fleeting and experimental touch, a technique which brings to life his virtuosity even better than his more composed paintings. The drawing clearly depicts one of his favourite themes: the merger of mystery (for example: inspiration, the human psyche) and day to day reality (for example: writing with a pen).

Mystery and inspiration in the words of René Magritte:

“Inspiration is the exceptional moment where we are fully present in the world, and are united with it. People are not inspired by placing random objects next to each other in a random order. Inspiration is sparked when we take what life has to offer us and fashion it in such a way that it brings out mystery, which is an absolute prerequisite for today’s thinking and for the world in general.

 (R. Magritte in a letter to P. Demarne 12th of May 1961)