Rene Magritte Paintings

Magritte 2012 Poster Calendar

2011-10-22T03:45:00.000-04:00

Twelve of Belgian Surrealist artist Rene Magritte’s works are featured in this 2012 Magritte Super Poster Calendar.

Gritty, witty and thought-provoking, a Magritte image is sure to cause comment by all who see it and this lovely collection will provide a new discussion point every month of the year, no matter where it is displayed.

Front / Back: (click on image to enlarge)

Magritte 2012 Wall Calendar

2011-10-22T03:09:00.001-04:00

If the picture you’re looking at challenges your perception of reality and leaves you thinking, am I seeing what I think I am, chances are you’ve discovered the work of Rene Magritte.

The Magritte 2012 Wall Calendar contains 12 thought provoking paintings by this leading Belgian surrealist artist that force the viewer to become super sensitive to what is happening in the art they are seeing as the year 2012 progresses.

Front / Back: (click on image to enlarge)

1967 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:33:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1967 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1967: Les Grâces Naturelles, La Géante, The Blank Page, Good Connections, The Art of Living and several bronze sculptures based on Magritte's previous works.

1966 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:33:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1966 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1966: The Shades, The Happy Donor, The Gold Ring, The Pleasant Truth, The Two Mysteries, and The Mysteries of the Horizon.

1965 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:32:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1965 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1965: Carte Blanche, The Thought Which Sees, Ages Ago and The Beautiful Walk (circa 1965)

Le Blanc-Seing

1963 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:31:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1963 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1963: The Great Family, The Open Air, The Beautiful Season, Princes of the Autumn, Young Love, La Recherche de la Vérité, The Telescope.

The Search for the Absolute (La recherche de l'absolu) (Christie's lot description)	La Belle Saison
Le Grande Famille

1964 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:31:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1964 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1964: Evening Falls, The Great War, The Son of Man, Song of Love.

The Son of Man

L'Homme au Chapeau Melon

1962 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1962 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1962: The Great Table, The Healer, Waste of Effort, Mona Lisa (circa 1962), L'embeillie (circa 1962).

1960 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:29:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1960 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1960: The Memoirs of a Saint.

Le Tombeau des Luteurs

Les Forces de l'Habitude
"This is not an apple"

1959 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:28:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1959 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1959: The Castle in the Pyrenees (La Chateau des Pyrenees), The Battle of the Argonne, The Anniversary, The Month of the Grape Harvest, The Glass Key.

La Chateau des Pyrenees

Le Mois des Vendanges
The Month of the Grape Harvest

1958 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:28:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1958 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1958: The Golden Legend, Hegel's Holiday, The Banquet, The Familiar World, The Listening Room.

La Chambre d'ecoute
The Listening Room

1957 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:27:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1957 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1957: The Fountain of Youth, The Enchanted Domain.

1956 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:26:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1956 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1956: The Sixteenth of September.

Le Seize Septembre

1955 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:26:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1955 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1955: Memory of a Journey, The Mysteries of the Horizon.

Le Chef d'Oeuvre

1954 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:25:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1954 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1954: The Invisible World, The Explanation, The Empire of Light.

L'Empire des Lumieres

1953 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:25:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1953 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1953: Golconda, The Listening Room and a fresco for the Knokke Casino.

1952 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:24:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1952 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1952: Personal Values, Le Sens de la Pudeur.

Les Valeurs Personnelles

1951 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:24:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1951 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1951: David's Madame Récamier (parodying the Portrait of Madame Récamier), Pandora's Box, The Song of the Violet, The Spring Tide, The Smile.

1950 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:23:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1950 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1950: Making an Entrance, The Legend of the Centuries, Towards Pleasure, The Labors of Alexander, The Empire of Light II, The Fair Captive, The Art of Conversation.

The Empire of Light II	La Promesse
Le Seducteur

1949 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:22:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1949 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1949: Megalomania, Elementary Cosmogany, and Perspective, the Balcony.

La Fissure

1948 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:22:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1948 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1948: Blood Will Tell, Memory, The Mountain Dweller, The Art of Life, The Pebble, The Lost Jockey, God's Solon, Shéhérazade, L'Ellipse and Famine, The Taste of Sorrow.

La Voix du Sang	La Memoire
Les Graces Naturelles

1947 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:21:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1947 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1947: The Cicerone, The Liberator, The Fair Captive, La Part du Feu, The Red Model.

Le Modele Rouge

La Philosophie dans le Boudoir

1946 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:20:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1946 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1946: L'Intellience, Les Mille et une Nuits.

1945 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:20:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1945 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1945: Treasure Island, Les Rencontres Naturelles, Black Magic.

La Magie Noire

1944 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1944 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1944: The Good Omens.

1943 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:18:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1943 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1943: Universal Gravitation, Monsieur Ingres's Good Days, Backfire (Le retour de flamme).

Le Retour de Flamme
Backfire
(see: Fantômas & The Avant-Garde)

1942 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:18:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1942 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1942: Misses de L'Isle Adam, L'Ile au Tréson, Memory, Black Magic, The Misanthropes.

1941 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:17:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1941 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1941: The Break in the Clouds.

1940 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:17:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1940 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1940: The Return, The Wedding Breakfast, Les Grandes Espérances.

1939 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:16:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1939 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1939: Victory.

1938 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1938 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1938: Time Transfixed, The Domain of Arnheim, Steps of Summer.

Le Domaine d'Arnheim

1937 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:14:00.002-05:00

Selected list of 1937 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1937: The Future of Statues, The Black Flag, Not to be Reproduced, Portrait of Edward James and Portrait of Rena Schitz, On the Threshold of Liberty.

La Reproduction Interdite

1936 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:14:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1936 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1936: Clairvoyance, The Healer, The Philosopher's Lamp, Spiritual Exercises, Portrait of Irène Hamoir, La Méditation, Forbidden Literature.

L'Avenir
The Future

1935 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:13:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1935 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1935: The Discovery of Fire, The Human Condition, Revolution, Perpetual Motion, Collective Invention, The Portrait.

La Trahison des Images "Ceci n'est pas une pipe"	La Gacheuse The Bungler (see: National Galleries of Scotland)
Le Mouvement Perpetuel Perpetual Motion	L'Invention Collective Collective Invention

1934 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1934 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1934: The Rape.

Le Viol
The Rape

1933 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:11:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1933 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1933: Elective Affinities, The Human Condition, The Unexpected Answer.

1932 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:11:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1932 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1932: The Universe Unmasked.

La Belle de Nuit

1930 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:10:00.004-05:00

Selected list of 1930 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1930: Pink Belles, Tattered Skies, The Eternally Obvious, The Lifeline, The Annunciation, Celestial Perfections.

1931 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:10:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1931 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1931: The Voice of the Air, Summer, The Giantess.

1929 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:09:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1929 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1929: The Treachery of Images (Le Trahison des Images) "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (started in 1928), Threatening Weather, On the Threshold of Liberty.

Le Trahison des Images
"Ceci n'est pas une pipe"

1928 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T22:00:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1928 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1928: The Lining of Sleep (started in 1927), Intermission (started in 1927), The Flowers of the Abyss (Les Fleurs de l'Abîme), Discovery, The Lovers I & II, The Voice of Space, The Daring Sleeper, The Acrobat's Ideas, The Automaton, The Empty Mask, Reckless Sleeper, The Secret Life, Attempting the Impossible, The False Mirror.

Le Faux Miroir The False Mirror	Tentative de l'Impossible Attempting the Impossible
The Lovers	La Lectrice Soumise
La Ruse Symetrique	Les Charmes du Paysage
Les Fleurs de l'Abîme	Les Jours Gigantesques

1927 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:59:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1927 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1927: Young Girl Eating a Bird, The Oasis (started in 1925), "Le Double Secret", The Meaning of Night, Let Out of School, The Man from the Sea, The Tiredness of Life, The Light-breaker, A Passion for Light, The Menaced Assassin, Reckless Sleeper, La Voleuse, The Fast Hope, L'Atlantide, The Muscles of the Sky.

Le Double Secret

1926 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:41:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1926 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1926: The Lost Jockey, The Mind of the Traveler, Sensational News, The Difficult Crossing, The Vestal's Agony, The Midnight Marriage, The Musings of a Solitary Walker, After the Water the Clouds, Popular Panorama, Landscape, The Encounter.

Les Reveries du Promeneur Solitaire
The Musings of a Solitary Walker

La Rencontre
The Encounter

1925 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:40:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1925 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1925: The Bather, The Window.

1923 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:38:00.000-05:00

Selected list of 1923 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1923: Self-portrait, Sixth Nocturne, Georgette at the Piano, Donna.

1922 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

Selected list of 1922 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1922: The Station, L'Écuyère.

1920 Rene Magritte Paintings

2009-11-15T21:26:00.003-05:00

Selected list of 1920 paintings by Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte. See the Rene Magritte section of AllPosters.com for ready-to-hang framed art prints.

1920: Landscape.

Magritte on The Son of Man

2009-11-15T13:38:00.006-05:00

The Son of Man
Rene Magritte
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Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte discusses the meaning of his famous surreal painting The Son of Man:

"At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It’s something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present." -– Rene Magritte

See interpretation: The Son of Man, 1964

Buy framed Art Print ready for hanging:
The Son of Man

Le Blanc-Seing

2009-11-13T21:20:00.008-05:00

Le Blanc-Seing
Rene Magritte
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The French title of Rene Magritt'e famous painting Le Blanc-Seing (literal translation: "The Blank Signature") roughly translates as "free hand" or "free rein".

At first glance, the painting appears to be an ordinary painting of a woman on horse back riding through a forest. Yet as you look closer at the painting you realize that something is not right. The woman and horse are impossibly interlaced with the forest.

The painting violates the law of occlusion: closer objects should visually cover up objects positioned behind them. In the painting, the woman on the horse should be occluded by the tree in front of her. Yet we see her image in front of the tree.

Notice the tree covering the woman's right arm. It appears to be in front of her yet if you look at the base of the tree, you see that it is in the distance relative to the other trees. Is the tree in the distance or is it in the foreground? Also notice the gap in the trees at the horse's right shoulder. That is a gap yet Magritte treats it -- empty space -- like an object and moves it to the foreground. At first we could say that Magritte is just interlacing the woman/horse and the trees, but the "foreground gap" puts an even greater surreal spin on the painting -- what does it mean when empty space can be treated like an object?! Is "nothing" something? It all comes down to perception.

Le Blanc-Seing 1965 demonstrates an occlusion illusion. The painting was one of Magritte's last works before he died in 1967.

The "Waterfall" by M.C. Escher contains similar violations of global depth relations.

Buy Art Print: Le Blanc-Seing

The Empire of Light II

2009-11-13T21:03:00.009-05:00

The Empire of Light II
Rene Magritte
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Empire of Light II, 1950 depicts a scene of a house at night with a lamppost lighting a front portion of the house. If you look at the painting, you will notice that the sky is a daylight sky (not a night sky) while the house is shown at night. Most viewers do not notice this discrepancy at first, thinking that it is perhaps a scene "shot" at dusk. The scene is subtlely surreal -- it looks like a photograph, yet it is surreal because of the sky.

1950, oil on canvas, 31 x 39" (78.8 x 99.1 cm).
Location: The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA.

Buy Art Print: The Empire of Light II

Le Trahison des Images

2009-11-07T15:19:00.006-05:00

Le Trahison des Images Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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Le Trahison des Images, 1928–29 (translation: "The Treachery of Images") is probably the second most recognized painting by Magritte, the first being The Son of Man, 1964.

La Trahison des Images is actually a series of paintings by René Magritte, the most noted of which is famous for its inscription "Ceci n'est pas une pipe", French for "this is not a pipe". The painting shows a pipe. The painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe. As Magritte himself commented: "The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it's just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture 'This is a pipe,' I'd have been lying!"

At first glance this painting may simply seem to be an image of a pipe with the apparently contradictory statement that this is not a pipe. Yet through this surreal painting Magritte is pointing out the very important concept that all paintings are merely representative of the subject matter. It is not the subject matter itself. The image on the canvas is an interpretation of what the artist saw when creating the painting. When you look at any object around you, your mind is interpreting the information that is sensed by your eyes. In the metaphysical sense, what you are "seeing" is not the real object but an interpretation of the object as perceived by your mind through your eyes. Your senses present your mind with sensory information about an object (or situation) and it is your mind that interprets it. One's mind works via pictorial representations of objects; think of your home and an image of your home comes on the screen of your mind. But that image of your home is not your home. It is merely a representative interpretation of your home. That's the psychological concept that Magritte is conveying in his painting La Trahison des Images. For greater understanding of this concept, read "Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz.

Buy Art Print: Le Trahison des Images

La Chateau des Pyrenees, 1959

2009-11-07T13:46:00.009-05:00

La Chateau des Pyrenees Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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La Chateau des Pyrenees (translation: "The Castle of the Pyrenees") is truly a surreal painting. The Chateau (castle) sits perched on top of a large mountain floating above a large body of water. More than half of the painting is taken up the floating mountain; it is the main focus of the painting. Notice the position of the mountain in the painting; it takes up the upper portion, it is not in the vertical center of the painting and is nearly at the top of the painting. This location emphasis the levitation of the mountain. The sky is a clear blue sky with many white clouds. The lower 1/8 of the painting shows the water and rough waves. Notice that we do not see the land that the waves are crashing upon. The only land visible in the entire painting is the floating mountain.

What is Maritte saying in this painting? The levitation of such a large rock literally defies gravity. There are some points to consider here. By the fact that the mountain is in the air, it has no foundation. It was once part of the Earth yet it is now separate. How does one enter such a castle? There is no path up the mountain. It is unreachable by land and by sea. It can only be reached by air and by the imagination.

It is always important to consider the title of any painting, in this case, La Chateau des Pyrenees. Something can always be learned from a painting's title. The Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. Etymology: According to Greek mythology the Pyrenees are named after Pyrene (fire in Greek) the daughter of Bebryx, who was raped by Hercules. She got pregnant and, the next morning, Hercules was drunk in a slumber. She then stabbed him, and went into hiding. Bebryx, thinking her dead and not knowing exactly where she was, built a great tomb for her; the Pyrenees. (source: wikipedia.org). Know that we know this information, we can consider whether Magritte is saying that this castle in the sky is Pyrene's tomb or perhaps where she went into hiding.

The concept of a floating city appears repeatedly in science fiction literature and drama. In the Star Trek episode, "The Cloud Minders (1969)," Stratos is a fictional floating city on the planet Ardana and ruled by High Advisor Plasus. And the Cloud City is a floating city on Bespin, a fictional planet in the Star Wars universe managed by Lando Calrissian (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back; 1980).

Buy Art Print: La Chateau des Pyrenees

Daily image of Rene Magritte art

2008-05-22T02:32:00.000-04:00

Display a daily image of Rene Magritte art on your iGoogle homepage. Each day a different image is shown.

Le Tombeau des Luteurs, 1960

2007-08-21T01:45:00.003-04:00

Le Tombeau des Luteurs Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Les Valeurs Personnelles, 1952 Limited Edition
Magritte, Rene
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Reminiscent of Magritte's painting Les Valeurs Personnelles, 1952, the painting Le Tombeau des Luteurs depicts an oversized red rose inside a room. The rose completely fills the room and there is no space left for any other object. A window on the left wall lets light into the room and lights the rose casting a large shadow behind it.

Is the rose oversize or is it the room that is in miniature? Magritte uses size to make the familiar surreal.

Buy Art Print: Le Tombeau des Luteurs

Les Valeurs Personnelles, 1952

2007-08-21T00:40:00.002-04:00

Les Valeurs Personnelles, 1952 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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Le Tombeau des Luteurs Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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Les Valeurs Personnelles, 1952 (translation: "Personal Values") depicts a room full of oversized everyday object: a comb, a matchstick, a wineglass, a shaving brush, and a bar of soap. These familiar household objects crowd the room. Are these object in fact oversized or is it perhaps that the room is in miniature?

And the walls depict clouds, trying to open up the room but they are not real clouds, they are painted clouds. Yet visible in the wardrobe mirror is the reflection of an open window that does open the room to the outside.

Magritte uses the theme of an oversized object inside a room in several of his paintings including Le Tombeau des Luteurs.

Buy Art Print: Les Valeurs Personnelles

Le Seize Septembre, 1957

2007-08-20T23:33:00.003-04:00

Le Seize Septembre Art Print
Rene Magritte
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La Voix Du Sang Limited Edition
Magritte, Rene
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Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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Le Seize Septembre (translation: "September Sixteen") depicts a lone tree at dusk. It looks like an ordinary scene.

Yet if you look close you will notice a crescent moon superimposed on the tree. Perhaps Magritte is reminding us to keep in mind that a painting is not reality but rather an image that the artist sees in his mind's eye. If you know the moon is behind the tree, with your mind's eye you can see the moon.

This painting is similar in theme to the artwork La Voix Du Sang that also depicts a lone tree at dusk. The image of the moon also appears in Magritte's painting Le Chef d'Oeuvre.

Buy Art Print: Le Seize Septembre

La Voix Du Sang

2007-08-20T23:12:00.002-04:00

La Voix Du Sang Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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Le Seize Septembre Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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La Voix Du Sang, 1948 (translation: ("Blood Will Tell" or "The Voice of Blood") is a painting of a tree at dusk or at twlight. It looks like a scene of an ordinary tree. But upon closer inspection of the tree, you notice that it has two doors cut into the trunk of the tree revealing two compartments. In the top compartment is an egg, and in the bottom compartment is a miniature house with light shining out through its windows.

This painting is similar in theme to the artwork Le Seize Septembre that also depicts a lone tree at dusk.

Buy Art Print: La Voix Du Sang

Empire of Light, 1954

2007-08-20T22:31:00.001-04:00

Empire of Light, 1954 Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Empire of Light, 1954 depicts a scene of a house at night with a lamppost lighting a front portion of the house. This painting is one of my favorite artworks by Magritte. If you look at the painting, you will notice that the sky is a daylight sky (not a night sky) while the house is shown at night. Most viewers do not notice this discrepancy at first, thinking that it is perhaps a scene "shot" at dusk. The scene is subtlely surreal -- it looks like a photograph, yet it is surreal because of the sky.

Size: 146 x 113.7 cm.
Location: Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium.

Magritte painted other paintings with the same theme:

The Empire of Light II Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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L'Empire des Lumieres (Empire of the Lights) Limited Edition
Magritte, Rene
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La Clairvoyance, 1936

2007-08-20T21:50:00.002-04:00

La Clairvoyance Art Print
Rene Magritte
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La Clairvoyance depicts the artist Magritte sitting at an easel, looking at an egg while painting a picture of a bird with its wings extended.

The title of the painting La Clairvoyance translates to "Perspicacity" which means: Acuteness of perception, discernment, or understanding or keen vision.

The meaning of the painting is indicated by the title La Clairvoyance. The egg will become a bird. The artists see what it will become. In the eye of the artist, he already sees the bird. Through understanding of the laws of the Universe, the artist knows that the egg will become a bird -- that it is already a bird.

Size: 54.5 x 65.5 cm.
Location: Private collection.

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Le Modele Rouge, 1935

2007-08-20T21:33:00.001-04:00

Le Modele Rouge Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Le Modele Rouge (translation: "The Red Model") depicts feet that morph into lace-up shoes.

Magritte explained painting's imagery in a 1938 lecture: "The problem of the shoes demonstrates how far the most barbaric things can, through force of habit, come to be considered quite respectable," adding that thanks to the picture, "people can feel that the union of a human foot with a leather shoe is, in fact, a monstrous custom."

Size: 56 x 46 cm. Gallery: Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France.

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Les Amants, 1928

2007-08-20T20:47:00.001-04:00

Les Amants Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Les Amants (translation: "The Lovers") depicts a man and woman with their heads covered in shrouds. With green hills in the background and their heads pressed together, the image looks almost as if they are posing for a photography. This image could be a photograph of a warm moment between a couple. But the shrouds hide their faces from us and from each other. The shrouds turn an intimate moment into isolation. The shrouds might also be interpretted as "love is blind", or perhaps that one's lover is shrouded in mystery and is never completely known.

It has been suggested that one possible source for the shrouded heads is the memory of his mother's apparent suicide. In 1912, when Magritte was only thirteen years old, his mother was found drowned in the river Sambre. When her body was recovered from the river, her nightdress was supposedly wrapped around her head.

Size: 54.2 x 73 cm. Location: Private collection.

Buy Art Print: Les Amants

L'Evidence Eternelle, 1930

2007-08-19T18:31:00.001-04:00

L'Evidence Eternelle, 1930 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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L'Evidence Eternelle, 1930 depicts a woman's nude body painted in parts on five separate, superimposed canvases. Yet are we looking at five canvases on a wall of a woman, or are we looking through five windows in a wall at a woman standing on the other side of the wall?

This artwork is reminiscent of the later painting La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 that depicts the fragmented body of a woman in a different style.

Buy Art Print: L'Evidence Eternelle, 1930

La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949

2007-08-19T17:55:00.001-04:00

La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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La Magie Noire Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 (translation: "Delusions of Grandeur") depicts the fragmented body of a nude woman posing by a seawall. Notice that the woman's body is fragmented and so is the sky. The sky appears to be made out of blocks. Some of the clouds are in front of and behind the "sky blocks" and some of the clouds appear to be painted onto the "sky blocks". There is a question of what is reality. This painting is similar to another painting by Magritte named La Magie Noire

Comparing this painting to the other painting, the horizon line dividing the sky from the sea is clear compared to a fuzzy horizon line. This painting has an object (a candle) sitting on the seawall compared to nothing on the seawall in the other painting.

Buy Art Print: La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949

La Magie Noire, 1945

2007-08-19T17:39:00.002-04:00

La Magie Noire Art Print
Rene Magritte
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La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 Limited Edition
Magritte, Rene
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La Magie Noire (translation: "Black Magic") depicts a nude woman posing by a seawall. Her body is shaded from natural skin tone to the blue of the sky.

This painting is similar to Magritte's other painting La Folie des Grandeurs, 1948-1949 that also depicts a "woman" at a seawall.

Size: 73 x 54.4 cm. Location: Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium.

Buy Art Print: La Magie Noire

La Grande Guerre, 1964

2007-08-19T16:54:00.002-04:00

La Grande Guerre, 1964 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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The Son of Man, 1964 Art Print
Magritte, Rene
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La Grande Guerre, 1964 (translation: "The Big War") depicts a woman carrying a parasol (a lightweight umbrella used, esp. by women, as a sunshade) standing by a stone seawall that overlooks a body of water. This painting is reminiscent of Magritte's well-known painting The Son of Man, 1964.

Although the two artworks are very similar, the scene in La Grande Guerre, 1964 is brighter than in The Son of Man, 1964. The sea is a calm blue and the sky is a light blue with white clouds compared to a darker sea with threatening clouds. The woman has her arms up (holding her parasol and purse) compared to the man who has his arms down by his side and is more staid. The woman has her body turned slightly to her right compared to the man who has his body directly facing the viewer. The brickwork of the seawall is also different; smooth compared to rough, a cap/coping compared to no cap/coping. And while both are wearing hats, her hat is flamboyant while his hat is staid. The woman's face is covered by a bouquet of flowers compared to the man's face that is covered by a green apple.

Size: 81 x 60 cm.
Location: Private collection.

Buy Art Print: La Grande Guerre, 1964

Homesickness, 1940

2007-08-19T16:17:00.001-04:00

Homesickness, 1940 Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Homesickness, 1940 depicts an interesting scene -- a man looking out over what appears to be a bridge railing while a lion sits behind him. Notice that the man is looking out over the railing while the lion is intently looking in the opposite direction. Unlike the bowler-hat wearing men in Magritte's other paintings, such as The Son of Man, 1964, this man has no hat but he does have what appear to be wings. Perhaps the man is an angel.

It is also interesting that the sky depicted in Homesickness, 1940 is a golden brown. The brown color palette used in this artwork and the position of the man/angel gives the painting a feeling of melancholy. Who is the title Homesickness applying to? The lion or the man or both? Afterall, the natural place for a lion is in the wild, not a city, and he is the "King of the Beasts". The man/angel and the lion are both homesick for where they came from.

Buy Art Print: Homesickness, 1940

La Golconde, 1953

2007-08-19T03:51:00.003-04:00

La Golconde Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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La Golconde, 1953 is another of Magritte's painting depicting a bowler-had clad gentleman. But unlike in his other paintings such as The Son of Man, 1964 and Le Chef d'Oeuvre, this painting depicts dozens and dozens of men. One can imagine that the men are falling downward like raindrops -- a down pour of men -- or that the men are like balloons floating upward. Or perhaps they are not in motion and are stationary. The men are identical in appearance except for the direction they are facing; some are facing towards us, some are facing 45 degrees to the left, while others are facing 45 degrees to the right. And the men are all in a perfect grid, in a crystal lattice such as carbon atoms in a diamond; these men are not randomly placed -- there is perfect order. How far do the men extend up/down, left/right, forward/back? Do they represent society, rigid structure and conformity? Yet notice the roof line of the buildings; they are not in a straight ridig line; they go up and down. Yet at the same time, all the windows are the same, all the buildings have the same color roof and same color exterior. The shadows on the roof indicate that the light source, the sun, is above the viewer's left shoulder.

Size: 81 x 100 cm.
Location: The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, USA.

Magritte's image of a man in a bowler hat is a recurring theme that reappears in several of his pictures:

The Son of Man, 1964 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 Limited Edition Buy at AllPosters.com
Golconde, 1953 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Buy Art Print: La Golconde

Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957

2007-08-19T03:02:00.004-04:00

Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 Limited Edition
Rene Magritte
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La Primavera Giclee Print

Primavera: Detail of Flora, Giclee Print

Le Blanc-Seing, Art Print

Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 is another of Magritte's paintings depicting a man wearing a bowler-hat. Unlike The Son of Man, 1964 and L'Homme au Chapeau Melon, the man is this painting is facing away from us.

Of course the most striking thing about this artwork is the woman that appears superimposed on the center of the image. The woman is a near identical reproduction of Flora (the goddess of spring, who is scattering roses) from the masterpiece La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli. Look at what the man is looking at, a lush green forest in spring bloom.

Seperating the man from the forest is a balncy stone railing; it is a barrier.

This forest is similar to the forest that appears in Magritte's painting Le Blanc-Seing

Magritte's image of a man in a bowler hat is a recurring theme that reappears in several of his pictures:

The Son of Man, 1964; Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	L'Homme au Chapeau Melon; Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com
Golconde, 1953; Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Chef d'Oeuvre; Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Buy Art Print: Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957

Le Chef d'Oeuvre

2007-08-19T02:28:00.001-04:00

Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Le Chef d'Oeuvre is another of the paintings by Magritte that have a bowler-hat man; in this case, three bowler-hat men. Unlike Magritte's other "bowler-hat" paintings such as The Son of Man, 1964, this painting is set at dusk or twilight and the moon is visible. Also, we can see at least half of the man's fact while in other paintings the man's face is covered. It's interesting that there are three men and three moons. One would expect to see the moon in its various phases, yet here each moon is the same (Waxing Crescent Moon as viewed in the Northern Hemisphere) and the man is going through phases. Yet if you look closely, the height of the man changes so is this an image of three different men or the same man viewed from three different angles? 0 degrees (his back), 45 degrees (his left side), and 270 degrees (his right side). The three men are looking in different directions, what do they see? The man on the left looks along our own line of sight (does he represent us?), the man in the middle looks to our left at a 45 degree angle (1/8 of a circle), and the man on the right looks off to our right (at a 90 degree angle to our own line of sight). And why are the two men on the right (and the moons above them) closer together? Why aren't three men/moons evenly seperated? Is it to create the gap between the first and second man and to create no gap between the second and third man? Look in the gap -- the ground there is barren; now look at the ground to the right of the third man -- the ground has rocks. When looking at a painting, it's important to ask yourself, "What's going on here? Why did the artist do that?"

Some other Rene Magritte paintings that have a bowler-hat man are:

The Son of Man, 1964 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 Limited Edition Buy at AllPosters.com
Golconde, 1953 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	L'Homme au Chapeau Melon Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Buy Art Print: Le Chef d'Oeuvre

L'Homme au Chapeau Melon, 1964

2007-08-19T01:15:00.003-04:00

L'Homme au Chapeau Melon Art Print
Rene Magritte
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Magritte used the image of a man wearing a bowler hat (a.k.a. "Derby") in serveral of his paintings. This painting is perhaps not as well known as other paintings by Magritte, nevertheless, it is easily identified as a painting by Magritte and recalls the well known painting The Son of Man, 1964.

Observe the painting and its details. The man' face is covered, just as if the dove flew into the frame just as Magritte "snapped" the picture. The bird is flying from the man's left to his right, towards the light. We do not see the man's eyes yet we see the bird's left eye; in the painting The Son of Man, 1964 we can see the man's left eye. And the man's tie is a pale pink compared to the bright red tie that appears in The Son of Man, 1964. And unlike that painting, this painting is a closeup "shoulder" shot of the man. Look at the blue background behind him; is that the sky or is he sitting in front of a backdrop for a portrait?

With any artwork, it's important to try and understand the meaning that the artist is conveying to you. There is meaning there in the image. Ponder the image and ask yourself what is in the meaning of each artistic element. What do you see in the painting? What does it remind you of? How is it similar to other paintings by this artist and by other artists? Look at the juxtaposition of objects within the frame and how the image is composed.

Some other Rene Magritte paintings that have the theme of the bowler-hat man are:

The Son of Man, 1964 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 Limited Edition Buy at AllPosters.com
Golconde, 1953 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Buy Art Print: L'Homme au Chapeau Melon

The Son of Man, 1964

2007-08-19T00:03:00.013-04:00

The Son of Man, 1964 Art Print
Rene Magritte
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L'Homme au Chapeau Melon Art Print
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Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print
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The Son of Man, 1964 is synonymous with Rene Magritte. That image of a man with a bowler-hat has become part of society's psyche. It has been used in commercial advertisement in various forms. And it also played a part in the motion picture The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.

When you look at any painting, it's important to keep in mind that everything is positioned where it is for a reason. The artist had a reason for it all. Ask yourself what is the meaning of each artistic element in the artwork. The man in the painting is very staid, very "stiff-upper-lip". His arms are straight down by his sides. Why is his bottom button unbuttoned yet the top two are buttoned? He's looking straight forward with a blank stare; at least it appears that way from his left eye that you can see peaking around behind the apple. Notice that it is a green apple, not a red apple. How is the apple staying were it is? Is the main biting the apple? Is it merely floating? He's standing beside a wall that overlooks a body of water (blue water typically symbolizes the subconscious); what body of water is that, is it an ocean, a lake, a pond? Notice the gray clouds; is a storm forming? And look at the wall again; notice the lines on the top of the bricks that project away from you; continue both those lines and you will see that they intersect just above the top button, just at the level of the man's heart. Do you think that is an accident? Magritte planned it that way. Look at his right hand and at his left hand; the right hand is in front while the left hand is slightly behind. But look closer at the left arm at the elbow; that's a bulge; his left arm is on backwards, we are looking at the backside of a right arm! Take your hand and cover everthing except what appears to be the man's left arm; look at it and you'll see that it appears that you are now looking at the man from behind and what you see is his right arm from behind. That's surreal. That's Magritte.

About the painting The Son of Man, 1964 Magritte said, Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well ...

Magritte was quoted as 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 either, it is unknowable."

The face of the man is hidden under an apple. This refers to Magritte's painting "This is not an Apple" (Ceci n'est pas une pomme), also created in 1964. In "The Son of Man", the apple is also not an apple. The phrase "The Son of Man" usually refers to the figure of Christ, to the transfiguration of Jesus (see the Gospels of Luke, Mark and Matthew). Transfiguration discloses that the material body and face of Jesus is not the truthful one, for it reveals the material substance to be the figure only, the veil covering another true substance -- the Holy Light. The figure here functions as a reference to something else beyond its borders. (source: Irina Mel'nikova)

Magritte's signture theme of a man in a bowler hat reappears in several of his paintings:

L'Homme au Chapeau Melon Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Bouquet tout fait, 1957 Limited Edition Buy at AllPosters.com
Golconde, 1953 Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com	Le Chef d'Oeuvre Art Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Buy framed Art Print: The Son of Man

See posting: Magritte on The Son of Man

Rene Magritte

2007-08-18T22:53:00.001-04:00

About Rene Magritte: (source: Wikipedia.org)

René François Ghislain Magritte (November 21, 1898 – August 15, 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and amusing images.

Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began drawing lessons in 1910. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. In 1922 he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met in 1913.

Magritte worked in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926 when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.

When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, he returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. Then, with his brother, he formed an agency, which earned him a living wage.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. At the time he renounced the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, though he returned to the themes later.

His work showed in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospective exhibitions, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.

Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced Pop, Minimalist, and Conceptual art.

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