Rene Magritte and His Paintings勒内·马格利特其人其画

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.

超現实主义画家勒内·马格利特享誉国际，但其实他年过半百才赢得一定的声誉，作品也终获某种形式的认可。马格利特曾这样描述自己的画作：“我的画画的都是清晰可见的图像，没有隐藏任何东西。这些图像会让人感到神秘，事实上，人们看到我的画就会问自己这个简单的问题——‘这画是什么意思？。我的画没有任何意义，因为神秘没有任何意义，神秘不可知。”

勒内·马格利特1898年出生于比利时埃诺省莱西纳市。1916年到1918年，他就读布鲁塞尔的美术学院。由于觉得这种学习是浪费时间，他离开了学校。

绘画生涯的早期，勒内·马格利特会利用空闲时间尝试各种艺术形式和艺术主题的创作。正是在这一时期，他意识到超现实主义是他最喜欢的艺术形式。1926年的《被威胁的刺客》是他最早的作品之一，展现了超现实主义风格。

1927年，勒内·马格利特在布鲁塞尔的半人马座画廊首次举办了个人画展。在人生的这段日子里，他几乎每天创作一件作品，这使其画展内容丰富，观展者得以欣赏到多种独特风格的画作。但是，评论界却对这次展览大加挞伐。画展的失败让他心灰意冷，于是他前往巴黎发展。

移居巴黎后，马格利特结交了超现实主义创始人、画家安德烈·布勒东，并成为视觉艺术超现实主义运动的领军人物。

第二次世界大战德国占领比利时期间，马格利特一直待在布鲁塞尔。1943年到1944年，他短暂地采用了一种色彩丰富的开放画风，这两年被称为他的“雷诺阿时期”，反映了他在德占比利时生活所萌生的疏离感和遗弃感。

勒内·马格利特在布鲁塞尔度过了余生。在他绘画生涯的大部分时间里，他的作品遵循的都是超现实主义风格，极少偏离这种形式。他的很多作品描绘的是类似的场景和复现的主题。他最喜欢画的包括各种飘浮的石头和画中画;他还将许多无生命体放置在人形轮廓中，创造了其他画家都不曾尝试的独特画风。

艺术生涯的后期，勒内·马格利特还开始尝试雕塑，线条类似，超现实主义风格一以贯之。他具有一种幽默感，既让人觉得有趣，又引发无尽思考，他的许多创作都体现出这一点，其中包括他此生最著名的一些作品。他创作的以烟斗为主题的系列画作就是典型一例。

勒内·马格利特的作品吸引和影响了许多画家，不仅如此，流行文化乃至整个艺术界都深受他的创意和无与伦比的点石成金之力的影响——普普通通的东西在他的画中变得完全不同，令观者耳目一新。他能以一种引人联想而又心存疑问的方式呈现各种形象，其作品因而极受欢迎，1960年代尤盛。其实，他的很多作品都遭到剽窃，滥用于书籍、平面广告等各种场合，皆因他风格独特，其他画家无法效仿创作。

勒内·马格利特1967年因胰腺癌去世，但他的大部分作品至今仍在他的家乡和世界各地展出。他不仅为画坛引入了新风格，还引领了超现实主义画风的发展。