Surreal Painting, Dali, Magritte

[SBC5a]

I have been told that Dali painted sheerly to display his incredible
skill, is this true? Or is there meaning behind the madness? What about
Magritte?
Also, what other surrealist painters were there of note?

Ben Chadwick
sb...@helga6.acc.virginia.edu

[Deborah Thompson]

SBC5a <sb...@helga6.acc.Virginia.EDU> writes:

> I have been told that Dali painted sheerly to display his incredible
>skill, is this true? Or is there meaning behind the madness? What about
>Magritte?

Good Heavens! It's like asking if Monet painted simply because he liked
water lillies! *;-) Dali was a genius, some argue a mad one, but nobody
denies he was brilliant both as an artist and a human being. He said that
he painted for any number of reasons and I'm certain at least once he
professed to being a painting showoff. I don't ever recall anyone saying
he was particularly shy about bragging on himself.
Rene Magritte came from a troubled childhood. His mother committed
suicide one night by walking out in the middle of the night clad only in
her nightgown and threw herself into a freezing river. Young Magritte was
present when his mother's body was recovered and so nude women with fabric
binding them strangely became a recurring theme in his work.
There are many excellent Surrealist painters and I suggest a trip
to your local library to see some of the other excellent work in this field.
Try artists like Giorgio De Chirico, pretty much regarded as the founder
of the Surrealist Movement, and others such as Max Ernst, Jean Arp, and
especially Frida Kahlo, a woman artist who survived a horrible bus
accident that broke her spine in several places and as a result many of her
works depict her struggles with her infirmity. There has also been an
interest in her work lately in the fine art field so you may find articles
about her work in recent art magazines. Happy Hunting! -Hilary

[Jason A. Hutto]

As a side note on Magritte...
Another significant symbol in his work was the
rough sea sometimes seen in his paintings...

this was also related to the death of his mother.

It indicated both his fear of water as a deadly thing and
the fact that water had claimed his mother.

interesting notes i recall from the Magritte retrospective
i was able to see...gloat...:)

jason