René MagritteBelgio, 1898–1967Le mal de mer (Seasickness)
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Chicago, Stati Uniti
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- Fonte
- Il museo
Sul dipinto
In the spring of 1948, René Magritte debuted an astonishing body of work, including the painting seen here, in which he set out to challenge the notion of artistic sincerity. Radiantly expressive and looking nothing like his paintings of the previous two decades, this new style—termed his période vache, or “nasty style”—used lurid colors and crude paint handling to convey the ongoing unease of Europe after the Second World War.
Seasickness, arguably the most iconic painting from this moment, has no nautical elements. Yet the title is paid off by a garish sport coat and slab of ham sweltering in the sun that were intended to make viewers feel mild visual nausea. As Magritte explained at the time: “I live in a very
unpleasant world . . . that’s why my painting is a battle, or rather a counteroffensive.”
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Scheda
- Numero di inventario
- 2020.327
Che cosa raffigura
In catalogo
Fonti
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Immagine: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Nella vita di René Magritte
Tutta la vita1930–1954 · Residenza
René Magritte House
after 1945
Real commercial success arrives
By Magritte’s own account, real commercial success came only after 1945, and from then on he did not worry about money; in an interview in 1962 he declared that he would rather stop selling and live in poverty than become a businessman.
1945
Joins the Party a third time; writes an “Explanation”
In 1945 — according to Georgette, out of gratitude to the Russians — he joined the Communist Party again and the same year wrote a confidential “Explanation” to communist intellectuals. He feared that art would be reduced to propaganda for Marxism through easily understood styles and subjects, and equated such an approach with the methods of Nazi propaganda.
1946
The manifesto “Surrealism in Full Sunlight”
Renouncing the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, he signed, with several other Belgian artists, the manifesto “Surrealism in Full Sunlight”.
1947–1948
Fake Picassos and forged banknotes
During the lean postwar years Magritte supported himself by producing fake Picassos, Braques and de Chiricos, later expanding into the printing of forged banknotes; he did it together with his brother Paul and the Surrealist Marcel Mariën, his “surrogate son”, who was left with the task of selling it all.
late 1948
Returns to his pre-war imagery
At the end of 1948 Magritte returned to the style and themes of his pre-war Surrealist art.
