Magritte Is Not A Pipe

The gazes of the fresco’s subjects run along this depth axis towards a point that lies beyond the coronal plane of the fresco. This intersection of gazes to a point beyond the plane of the visual text is reminiscent of those in Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas, on which critical theorist Michel Foucault comments, referring to the gazes of the model, the spectator, and the painter, “These three ‘observing’ functions come together in a point exterior to the picture: that is, an ideal point in relation to what is represented, but a perfectly real one too, since it is also the starting-point that makes the representation possible” (15). Gaulli’s Triumph of the Name of Jesus, once again, is a visual text that is viewed di sotto in sù, the viewer’s gaze turned skyward to partake of the text. This viewing takes place across a vertical space—a distance between the viewer on ground level and the vaulted ceiling—that is pronounced by a set of trompe-l'œils that the viewer is responsible for reconciling. The aforementioned disruptions of visual boundaries and patterns in the text, the disruptions of media boundaries from paint to sculpture to architecture, and the artificial shadows projected by the painted figures all contribute to the viewer’s ability to perceive this depth axis and focus on the burst of light that resides at a point beyond the coronal plane of the

Everyone wants to understand art.... In the case of a painting people have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works out of necessity, that he himself is only a trifling bit of the world, and that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things, things which please us in the world, though we can't explain them (Barnes).

In this discussion, I hope to put a different spin on surrealism and the grotesque by drawing on the works of Sartre, and if we're not too dizzy from spinning when all is said and done, I shall have put together a way to investigate the grotesque in Modernist art and contemporary life. After a summary of the surrealist's use of Freud and a look at Sartre's criticism of surrealism, we will look at surrealism in Sartre's work and derive an existentialist definition of the grotesque and examine how this might reconfigure the surrealist goal of liberation. Surrealist art is almost always analyzed in terms of Freudian psychoanalytic theory because the surrealists openly announced Freud's study of the psyche as the inspiration for the practice of surrealism. Andr‚ Breton, author of the many surrealist "Manifestoes" and the self-appointed spokesman and scribe of the surrealist movement, eulogized Freud, who died in 1939, by writing that: ". .

Often inspired by the repression of unconscious observations, surrealist art and writing often contains no discernable organization or structure, and is open to the imagination and the “world of the private mind” (metmuseum), an antithesis of traditional art based on rationality, reason, and societal norms. These concepts were what the surrealists sought to upend in their manifesto, and thus much of their work, such as Rene Magritte’s "La Trahison des Images" or Marcel Duchamp’s “Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)” sought to “overturn the world view of scientific positivism, exposing the dogmatic conceptions of vision and language, the supposed guarantors of truth and being, as arbitrary, deceptive tools of modernity’s oppressive “rational” ideology” (sensesofcinema). Additionally, surrealism intended to capture “freedom” of the mind and imagination that modern logic and reason suppressed through constraints of social norms and expectations. These modern patterns of thought, in the eyes of surrealists, were influenced by social doctrine (surrealism lecture) and thus needed to be undermined in order to discover the true unconscious perception of reality

Museums add new context for artworks, since historical items were not made to be in modern museums. A Pair of Sensing Angels by Circle of Bernaert Orley are two ‘one by three foot’ oil painting on wood from 1535-1540 that depicts two angels. When looking at “A Pair of Censing Angels” we can infer the subject, the value the painting held, and how the meaning alters in its present setting. This visual analysis will describe the artwork, analyze the formal elements used, and how the formal elements of the work and display affects the viewer.

This painting by Leonardo Bazzaro symbolizes the poem in a way that no other painting can do, the pain and despair that goes into every word of the poem is reflected on the faces of those on the canoe in the painting. It brings in all of the aspects of the highs and lows of each stanza. They are taking a moment, a precious heartbeat of their time while the sun slowly sets into the horizon to think, to say a prayer. As the woman bows her head to take a moment to collect and compose her thoughts, a flood of emotions rushes through her and she takes a minute to realize that even her darkest days she must praise. Even though

Knowing the sex of the artist introduces the preconceived notion of how the artist may view the opposite sex. In this painting, because I know the artist is a male when viewing the subjects of the painting I understand why they are painted in the way they are. His gender influences my

The artist depicts an initial confusing and weirded-out thought for the viewer at first glance, but as one deeply examines the art, the subject matter begins to become more clear. The vision being shared in this non-objective painting has a context of placing one in the standing of Mr. Man by gaining height and freedom from the (white) bars that are rising on each level that represent conflict which traps one in a “cage” of misery. The unbalanced symmetry of having the left side take up more space with little action, and the right side being smaller with the action unraveling, makes the viewer break down each composite perspective. For the left side, the mysterious female muse, Moon-Face, has an unproportional face that is almost blushing with shades of light pasty orange, with the mouth wide open. The energetic mood is amplified by the tone of yellow that is splashed in the mouth, representing a loss of words or at a state of disbelief. The female’s lower half is created with tints of red that enhances the curves on her body, as if chiaroscuro connects the light and dark contrast to show outline of the breasts, stomach, and hips in

An in-depth study reveals mankind’s literal presentation of Mary to God for appraisal and judgment, rather than a simple depiction of her journey upward. The painting illustrates man’s—not God’s—physical act of lifting Mary up, creating a truly dynamic canvas. To do all of this, El Greco uses strong geometric divisions and hidden lines to take control of the viewer’s eyes, and sly manipulations of gravity and forces to create an image truly in motion. In the end, El Greco uses the painting’s overwhelming size and orientation to alter perspective and succeeds in tying the viewer’s fate into the scene itself.

Another main focal point in this canvas was subject matter. This is where the objects or events are described. The artist gives us different objects such as the old couple seems displayed as depressing. Or you can observe it as normal couple, walking across the river, enjoying the night. He also gives us a boat which could possibly be giving us a correlation because the boat looks like it’s broken or about to sink. There is also another interpretation with the object that Van Gogh displays which is, the stars. Depending upon which way you want to take it, they look like flowers or fireworks. Also, there is a sense of false appearance with the houses. If you stare at just the bank you will notice that it is just a bunch of bright lights but if you pay attention to the water close to the bank, you will acknowledge the darkness or shadow of the houses.

This painting shows how close and codependent humans and nature were. How well humans worked together with one another and their world. How peaceful those that are close to nature are, which is why it (nature) must be celebrated and appreciated.

“Ceci n’est pas une pipe.” This is not a pipe says the caption below the painting. Now it is critical that I need to remember how our minds can play tricks on us thus allowing us only to see what we want believe. The painting “This is not a pipe” isn’t an actual pipe our minds makes us think it’s a pipe however it is merely just a drawing of a pipe. With that in mind we may commence with the story. He walked towards his first victim and sunk his blade deep into her chest. Blood dripped off the knife as a pool of blood emerged behind him. He walked away limping through the halls of the asylum with the steel blade clenched tightly between his fists. As he began to approach the end of the hall, his steps became slower and slower

I personally get a sense of perfection in a human world when I look at this painting, which is a bit misleading but appropriate for a time in which men were beginning to question the divine and finding answers in the natural world where science and mathematical solutions were starting to make sense of everything around us.

The Human Condition, or La condition humaine was two paintings created by Rene Magritte, one in 1933 and the other in 1935. Both contain many formal similarities, yet the main point of the painting is that there is a painting of a landscape, yet that painting perfectly fits with, or completes, the landscape, as if it was perfectly drawn. In this analysis, I will be analyzing Magritte’s first painting, made in 1933. Magritte’s works often include objects hiding behind others, such as with Magritte’s The Son of Man, where a man in a bowler hat is hiding his face behind a floating apple. Magritte does this also in the Human Condition, yet to express a different meaning. Magritte is one of the major spearheads of the surrealist movement, a type of modernism, in which the fabric of realism and definitions are questions. One of Magritte’s more famous works, The Treachery of Images, Magritte shows a picture of what obviously is a pipe, yet, written in French beneath the image, states “This is not a pipe.” This was the dawn of a philosophy which would take the western art world by storm, called structuralism/post-structuralism. This is the philosophy where ideas/words and their meanings can be flexible depending on the viewer or the circumstance. This philosophy believes in the subconscious identification with images/colors that people have with art. In Magritte’s Treachery of the Images, his statement that “this is not a pipe” can be interpreted in different ways. One could say,

When I saw the painting for the first time it grabbed my attention. At first I thought it was the beautiful colors that attracted me to the painting, but it was more. In the picture the shadowy men look scared. They looked as though they were trying to run away from something and this lake that forms into this river that is surrounded by tall grass is the way out, or at least a place to hide until the coast is clear. During that time in my life I felt