Rene Magritte and His Paintings勒內·馬格利特其人其畫

肖文

Rene Magritte was an internationally acclaimed surrealist artist， yet it was not until his 50s， when he was finally able to reach some form of fame and recognition for his work. Magritte described his paintings 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.”

Rene Magritte was born in Lessines， in the province of Hainaut， in 1898. From 1916 to 1918， he studied at the Academie des Beaux-Art， which was located in Brussels. He left the school， because he thought that it was a waste of time.

During the early period of his career， Rene Magritte would spend the free time that he had， creating art forms and worked on a number of pieces; it was during this time period that he realized surrealism was the art form which he most enjoyed. The Menaced Assassin was one of his earliest pieces in 1926， which showcased the surrealist style.

In 1927， Rene Magritte had his first one-man show， which took place at the Galerie la Centauri in Brussels. During this period of his life， he was producing nearly one piece of art work each day， which made for an extensive showing， and a variety of unique styles for visitors of the exhibit to see. But critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure， he moved to Paris.

After moving to Paris， Magritte became friends with artist Andre Breton， the founder of Surrealism， and became a leading figure in the visual Surrealist movement.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II， Magritte remained in Brussels. He briefly adopted a colorful， painterly style in 1943-44， an interlude known as his “Renoir Period”， as a reaction to his feelings of alienation and abandonment that came with living in German-occupied Belgium.

Rene Magritte stayed in Brussels for the remainder of his life. During the majority of his career， his work followed a surrealist style， and he very rarely， if ever， strayed away from this form. Much of the work he created depicted similar scenes， and recurring themes. Some of his favorites were floating rocks， or creating a painting within a painting， and he also used many inanimate objects， within a human figure， creating the distinct styles which other artists did not.

Along the similar lines， and with a focus on the surrealist style which he stayed true to， during his career， Rene Magritte began to work on sculptures at a later part of his career as well. He had a playful and provocative sense of humor， which worked in many of the pieces which he created， and which became some of his most well-known pieces throughout the course of his career. One such example of this is the series of pipe paintings which he created.

Not only were a number of artists intrigued by， and influenced by the work Rene Magritte created， but popular culture， and the art world in general， were extremely influenced by his creative， and unique ability to take something so ordinary， yet make viewers of his pieces see something completely different. His ability to present figures in a suggestive， yet questioning manner， made his work extremely desirable， especially during the 1960s. In fact， much of his work has been plagiarized and used in books， print ads， and other manners， due to the distinct style， and the inability of artists to create in a similar manner.

Although he died in 1967， of pancreatic cancer， much of the work of Rene Magritte is still on display today， in his hometown， and around the world. Not only did he introduce a new style， but he was also a leader in the surrealist style.

超現實主義畫家勒內·馬格利特享譽國際，但其實他年過半百才贏得一定的聲譽，作品也終獲某種形式的認可。馬格利特曾這樣描述自己的畫作：“我的畫畫的都是清晰可見的圖像，沒有隱藏任何東西。這些圖像會讓人感到神秘，事實上，人們看到我的畫就會問自己這個簡單的問題——‘這畫是什么意思？。我的畫沒有任何意義，因為神秘沒有任何意義，神秘不可知。”

勒內·馬格利特1898年出生于比利時埃諾省萊西納市。1916年到1918年，他就讀布魯塞爾的美術學院。由于覺得這種學習是浪費時間，他離開了學校。

繪畫生涯的早期，勒內·馬格利特會利用空閑時間嘗試各種藝術形式和藝術主題的創作。正是在這一時期，他意識到超現實主義是他最喜歡的藝術形式。1926年的《被威脅的刺客》是他最早的作品之一，展現了超現實主義風格。

1927年，勒內·馬格利特在布魯塞爾的半人馬座畫廊首次舉辦了個人畫展。在人生的這段日子里，他幾乎每天創作一件作品，這使其畫展內容豐富，觀展者得以欣賞到多種獨特風格的畫作。但是，評論界卻對這次展覽大加撻伐。畫展的失敗讓他心灰意冷，于是他前往巴黎發展。

移居巴黎后，馬格利特結交了超現實主義創始人、畫家安德烈·布勒東，并成為視覺藝術超現實主義運動的領軍人物。

第二次世界大戰德國占領比利時期間，馬格利特一直待在布魯塞爾。1943年到1944年，他短暫地采用了一種色彩豐富的開放畫風，這兩年被稱為他的“雷諾阿時期”，反映了他在德占比利時生活所萌生的疏離感和遺棄感。

勒內·馬格利特在布魯塞爾度過了余生。在他繪畫生涯的大部分時間里，他的作品遵循的都是超現實主義風格，極少偏離這種形式。他的很多作品描繪的是類似的場景和復現的主題。他最喜歡畫的包括各種飄浮的石頭和畫中畫;他還將許多無生命體放置在人形輪廓中，創造了其他畫家都不曾嘗試的獨特畫風。

藝術生涯的后期，勒內·馬格利特還開始嘗試雕塑，線條類似，超現實主義風格一以貫之。他具有一種幽默感，既讓人覺得有趣，又引發無盡思考，他的許多創作都體現出這一點，其中包括他此生最著名的一些作品。他創作的以煙斗為主題的系列畫作就是典型一例。

勒內·馬格利特的作品吸引和影響了許多畫家，不僅如此，流行文化乃至整個藝術界都深受他的創意和無與倫比的點石成金之力的影響——普普通通的東西在他的畫中變得完全不同，令觀者耳目一新。他能以一種引人聯想而又心存疑問的方式呈現各種形象，其作品因而極受歡迎，1960年代尤盛。其實，他的很多作品都遭到剽竊，濫用于書籍、平面廣告等各種場合，皆因他風格獨特，其他畫家無法效仿創作。

勒內·馬格利特1967年因胰腺癌去世，但他的大部分作品至今仍在他的家鄉和世界各地展出。他不僅為畫壇引入了新風格，還引領了超現實主義畫風的發展。