Son of man (picture). The Son of Man or the Story of Coats and Bowlers Rene Magritte Child of Man

Plot

A man of indeterminate age in a well-tailored but unremarkable suit and bowler hat stands by a low fence. Behind him is a surface of water. Instead of a face there is an apple. In this surreal rebus he encoded several themes that run through all of his work.

"Son of Man", 1964. (wikipedia.org)

Incognito in a bowler hat is an image created from a contradictory combination of Magritte's passions. On the one hand, he adhered to the rules of the classical bourgeois, preferred to look inconspicuous, to be like everyone else. On the other hand, I adored Detective stories, adventure films, especially about Fantômas. The story of a criminal who took on the guise of victims, staged hoaxes, deceived the police and always hid from prosecution, excited Magritte’s imagination.

At the intersection of the craving for order and disorder, this man was born, who seems respectable, but behind whose face lurks secrets unknown even to him. That same quiet pool with its devils.

The allusion to the story of the Fall can be seen in the same context. Adam was expelled from paradise not because he agreed to eat fruit from the forbidden tree, but because he did not bear responsibility for the offense committed, and therefore did not justify the name of man as a divine creation.

Another motif that, one way or another, appears in many of his works is the memory of his mother, who committed suicide when Rene was 14 years old. She drowned in the river, and when some time later her body was taken out of the water, her head was wrapped in a nightgown. And although Magritte later said that this event did not affect him in any way, this is hard to believe. Firstly, in order to remain indifferent to your mother’s suicide at the age of 14, you need to have an atrophied soul (which certainly cannot be said about Magritte). Secondly, images of either water, or a suffocating drapery, or a woman connected with the water element, appear in paintings very often. So in “Son of Man” there is water behind the hero’s back, and the barrier separating him from it is extremely low. The end is inevitable, but its arrival is unpredictable.

Context

According to Magritte's definition, he created magical realism: using familiar objects, he created unfamiliar combinations that made the viewer uneasy. The titles for most - all these mysterious, enveloping formulations - were invented not by the artist himself, but by his friends. Having finished the next work, Magritte invited them and offered to arrange brainstorm. The artist himself left quite detailed description the philosophy of his art and perception of the world, his understanding of the relationship between an object, its image and word.

"Reproduction Prohibited", 1937. (wikipedia.org)

One of the textbook examples is the 1948 painting “The Treachery of Images.” It depicts the familiar smoking pipe, which in itself does not cause any disturbance in the finely organized soul of an artistic nature. If it were not for the signature: “This is not a pipe.” “How is this not a pipe,” the audience asked, “when it is clearly visible that it cannot be anything other than a pipe.” Magritte retorted: “Can you fill it with tobacco? No, it's just an image, isn't it? So if I wrote under the painting, “This is a pipe,” I would be lying!”

“The Treachery of Images,” 1928−1929. (wikipedia.org)

Each work of Magritte has its own logic. This is not a series of nightmares and dreams, but a system of connections. The artist was generally skeptical about the zeal with which the surrealists studied Freud and, barely waking up, tried to capture in as much detail as possible what they saw in their dreams.

The artist has a series of works - “perspectives”, in which the heroes of paintings by famous masters die. That is, Magritte interprets those depicted on the canvases as living people who will die sooner or later. For example, Magritte took portraits of Madame Recamier by David and François Gerard and based on them he painted two perspectives. And you can’t argue: no matter how beautiful socialite, but the same fate awaited her as the last little thing.

Magritte did the same with Edouard Manet’s “Balcony,” in which he replaced people with coffins. Some people perceive the cycle of “perspectives” as art blasphemy, others as a joke, but if you think about it, this is just a sober look at things.

The fate of the artist

Rene Magritte was born in the Belgian wilderness. There were three children in the family, and it was not easy. The next year after the death of his mother, Rene met Georgette Berger. After 9 years they will meet again and will never part again.

After school and a course at the Royal Academy of Arts, Magritte went to paint roses on wallpaper - he got a job as an artist in a factory. Then he started making advertising posters. After his marriage to Georgette, Magritte devoted more and more time to art. (Although from time to time he had to return to commercial orders - there was not enough money, Georgette had to work from time to time, which extremely depressed Rene - he, like a proper bourgeois, believed that a woman should not work at all.) Together they went to Paris, where they met with the Dadaists and surrealists, in particular André Breton and Salvador Dali.

Returning to his homeland in the 1930s, Magritte remained faithful to his ascetic lifestyle, by the standards of artists. There was no workshop in his house - he wrote right in his room. No unbridled drinking, sexual scandals, bohemian debauchery. Rene Magritte led the life of an inconspicuous clerk. They had no children - only a dog.

Gradually he becomes more and more famous in Europe and the USA, he is invited to Britain and the States with exhibitions and lectures. An inconspicuous bourgeois is forced to leave his quiet corner.

During the war years, wanting to encourage fellow citizens of the occupied fatherland, Magritte turned to impressionism. Using Renoir as a model, he chooses brighter colors. At the end of the war, he will return to his usual manner. In addition, he will begin experiments in cinema: having bought a camera in the 1950s, Magritte enthusiastically makes short films with the participation of his wife and friends.

In 1967, Magritte died of pancreatic cancer. There were several unfinished projects left, which the artist worked on until his last days.

Sources

1. museum-magritte-museum.be
2. Lecture by Irina Kulik “René Magritte - Christo”
3. Alexander Tairov - about artists. Rene Magritte
4. Photo of the announcement and lead: wikipedia.org

Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte– one of the most mysterious and controversial artists, whose work has always raised a lot of questions. One of his most famous works is "Son of Man". At the moment, there are many attempts to interpret the symbolic subtext of the painting, which art critics often call an intellectual provocation.

Each painting by Magritte is a rebus that makes you think about multiple hidden meanings. Their number depends solely on the imagination and erudition of the viewer: combinations of images and the names of the paintings set the viewer up to search for a solution that may not actually exist. As the artist himself said, his main goal is to make the viewer think. All his works produce a similar effect, which is why Magritte called himself a “magical realist.”
Magritte is a master of paradoxes; he poses problems that contradict logic, and leaves it to the viewer to find ways to solve them. The image of a man in a bowler hat is one of the central ones in his work; it has become a symbol of the artist himself. The paradoxical object in the picture is an apple hanging in the air right in front of a man’s face. “The Son of Man” is the quintessence of the concept of “magical realism” and the pinnacle of Magritte’s work. Everyone who looks at this picture comes to very contradictory conclusions.
Magritte painted “The Son of Man” in 1964 as a self-portrait. The title of the work refers to biblical images and symbols. As critics wrote, “the picture owes its name to the image of a modern businessman, who remains the son of Adam, and to an apple, symbolizing the temptations that continue to haunt a person even in life.” modern world».
For the first time, the image of a man in a coat and a bowler hat appears in “Reflections of a Lonely Passerby” in 1926, and is later repeated in the painting “The Meaning of the Night.” In the 1950s Magritte returns to this image again. His famous “Golconda” symbolizes the one-faced crowd and the loneliness of each individual person in it. “The Man in the Bowler Hat” and “The Son of Man” continue to reflect on the loss of individuality by modern man.

The man’s face in the picture is covered by an apple – one of the most ancient and meaningful symbols in art. In the Bible, the apple is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, a symbol of the fall of man. In folklore, this image was often used as a symbol of fertility and health. In heraldry, the apple symbolizes peace, power and authority. But Magritte, apparently, appeals to the original meanings, using this image as a symbol of the temptations that haunt man. In a frantic rhythm modern life a person loses his individuality, merges with the crowd, but cannot get rid of temptations that block the real world, like an apple in a picture.

Bella Adtseeva

The Belgian artist Rene Magritte, despite his undoubted affiliation with surrealism, always stood apart in the movement. Firstly, he was skeptical about perhaps the main hobby of the entire group of Andre Breton - Freud's psychoanalysis. Secondly, Magritte’s paintings themselves are not similar to either the crazy plots of Salvador Dali or the bizarre landscapes of Max Ernst. Magritte used mostly ordinary everyday images - trees, windows, doors, fruits, human figures - but his paintings are no less absurd and mysterious than the works of his eccentric colleagues. Without creating fantastic objects and creatures from the depths of the subconscious, Belgian artist did what Lautreamont called art - arranged a "meeting of an umbrella and typewriter on the operating table", combining banal things in an unusual way. Art critics and connoisseurs still offer new interpretations of his paintings and their poetic titles, almost never associated with the image, which once again confirms: Magritte’s simplicity is deceptive.

© Photo: Rene MagritteRene Magritte. "Therapist". 1967

Rene Magritte himself called his art not even surrealism, but magical realism, and was very distrustful of any attempts at interpretation, much less the search for symbols, arguing that the only thing to do with paintings was to look at them.

© Photo: Rene MagritteRene Magritte. "Reflections of a Lonely Passerby" 1926

From that moment on, Magritte periodically returned to the image of a mysterious stranger in a bowler hat, depicting him either on the sandy seashore, or on a city bridge, or in a green forest, or facing a mountain landscape. There could be two or three strangers, they stood with their backs to the viewer or semi-sideways, and sometimes - as, for example, in the painting High Society (1962) (can be translated as "High Society" - editor's note) - the artist indicated only an outline men in a bowler hat, filling it with clouds and leaves. The most famous paintings depicting a stranger are “Golconda” (1953) and, of course, “Son of Man” (1964) - Magritte’s most widely replicated work, parodies and allusions to which occur so often that the image already lives separately from its creator. Initially, Rene Magritte painted the picture as a self-portrait, where the figure of a man symbolized modern man, who has lost his individuality, but remains the son of Adam, who is unable to resist temptations - hence the apple covering his face.

© Photo: Volkswagen / Advertising Agency: DDB, Berlin, Germany

"Lovers"

Rene Magritte quite often commented on his paintings, but left one of the most mysterious - “Lovers” (1928) without explanation, leaving room for interpretation to art critics and fans. The first ones again saw in the painting a reference to the artist’s childhood and experiences associated with her mother’s suicide (when her body was taken out of the river, the woman’s head was covered with the hem of her nightgown - editor’s note). The simplest and most obvious of the existing versions - “love is blind” - does not inspire confidence among experts, who often interpret the picture as an attempt to convey isolation between people who are unable to overcome alienation even in moments of passion. Others see here the impossibility of understanding and getting to know close people to the end, while others understand “Lovers” as a realized metaphor for “losing one’s head from love.”

In the same year, Rene Magritte painted a second painting called “Lovers” - in it the faces of the man and woman are also closed, but their poses and background have changed, and general mood changed from tense to peaceful.

Be that as it may, “The Lovers” remains one of Magritte’s most recognizable paintings, the mysterious atmosphere of which is borrowed by today’s artists - for example, the cover refers to it debut album British group Funeral for a Friend Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation (2003).

© Photo: Atlantic, Mighty Atom, FerretFuneral For a Friend's album, "Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation"

"The Treachery of Images", or This Is Not...

The names of Rene Magritte's paintings and their connection with the image are a topic for separate study. "The Glass Key", "Achieving the Impossible", "Human Destiny", "The Obstacle of Emptiness", " Wonderful world", "Empire of Light" are poetic and mysterious, they almost never describe what the viewer sees on the canvas, and in each individual case one can only guess what meaning the artist wanted to put into the name. "The names were chosen in such a way that they do not allow me to place my paintings in the realm of the familiar, where the automatism of thought will certainly work to prevent anxiety,” Magritte explained.

In 1948, he created the painting “The Treachery of Images,” which became one of the most famous works Magritte thanks to the inscription on it: from inconsistency the artist came to denial, writing “This is not a pipe” under the image of a pipe. "This famous pipe. How people reproached me with it! And yet, you can fill it with tobacco? No, it's just a picture, isn't it? So if I wrote under the picture, 'This is a pipe,' I'd be lying !" - said the artist.

© Photo: Rene MagritteRene Magritte. "Two Secrets" 1966

© Photo: Allianz Insurances / Advertising Agency: Atletico International, Berlin, Germany

Magritte's Sky

The sky with clouds floating across it is such an everyday and used image that making it " business card"of any particular artist seems impossible. However, Magritte's sky cannot be confused with someone else's - more often than not due to the fact that in his paintings it is reflected in fancy mirrors and huge eyes, fills the contours of birds and, together with the horizon line from the landscape imperceptibly moves to the easel (series “Human Lot”). The serene sky serves as a background for a stranger in a bowler hat (“Decalcomania”, 1966), replaces the gray walls of the room (“Personal Values”, 1952) and is refracted in three-dimensional mirrors (“Elementary Cosmogony”, 1949).

© Photo: Rene MagritteRene Magritte. "Empire of Light". 1954

The famous "Empire of Light" (1954), it would seem, is not at all similar to the works of Magritte - in the evening landscape, at first glance, there was no place for unusual objects and mysterious combinations. And yet such a combination exists, and it makes the picture “Magritte” - a clear daytime sky over a lake and a house immersed in darkness.

My favorite surrealist can boast of many masterpieces hanging modestly in his museum in Brussels. He is known to the general public for his two heads covered with a piece of fabric, sitting coffins, an image of a pipe, as well as female genital organs that fit seamlessly into his face. Well, naturally, thanks to him - the son of man.

The image of a man in a coat and bowler hat runs like a red thread through all of Magritte’s work. He first painted a similar silhouette in 1926, calling the painting “Reflections of a Lonely Passerby.” Some researchers of his work believe that the painting was painted under the impression of the death of the artist’s mother. (Committed suicide by jumping off a bridge).

A year later, the motif of the bowler hat and coat reappears in Magritte's work. "The meaning of the night." The meaning of the night, of course, is in a dream.

Once again Magritte recalls this image only in 1951, creating the painting "Pandora's Box". Presumably White Rose acts as a symbol of the hope remaining at the bottom of the box.

In 1953, Magritte painted the famous "Golconda" - a rain of men. Rene himself stated that this picture personifies the one-facedness of the crowd and the loneliness of the individual in it who can touch real life- again - only in a dream.

In 1954, The Great Century and The School Teacher appeared.

"Great Century"

"School teacher"

In 1955, a man in a coat and bowler hat is revealed from different sides. Three figures, three moons, three realities. "Masterpiece or Mystery of the Horizon"

In 1956, Magritte's alter ego loses its shape and mimics the horizon - the work "The Poet Recreated"

In 1957, Magritte was inspired by Botticelli, placing Spring on the back of a man wearing a coat. "Ready bouquet"

After taking a break of three years, in 1960 the coat returned to a grateful viewer. It brings an apple with it. "Post card"

As well as representatives of the fauna. Important detail- a man in a coat and bowler hat turns to face us. "Presence of mind"

In 1961, Gagarin flew into space, and Magritte painted “Portrait of Steffi Lang,” in which he did not fail to place two sets of “bowler coats.”

"Elite".

"Spirit of Adventure"

In 1963, Magritte again experimented a little with form.

"Endless Confession"

"Proponent of Order"

In 1964 the artist painted the forerunner of "Son of Man". "The Man in the Bowler Hat"

And finally, we got to, perhaps, the most famous painting Magritte. “Son of Man” was conceived as a self-portrait of the artist, symbolizing modern man who has lost his individuality, but has not gotten rid of temptations.

In the same year, a variation of “The Son of Man” was written - “The Great War”

Two years after The Son of Man, Magritte returned to bowler hats. "Decalcomania" and " Royal Museum"dating back to 1966.

"Decalcomania"

"Royal Museum"

At this point, Magritte ended his relationship with bowler hats, but it was too late - the image went to the masses. The playful hands of fans of Apple products played a significant role in the vulgarization of the picture.

However, one should not blame only the adherents of the bad apple - as a rule, the adaptation of an idea by society is often painful for the author.

The apotheosis of the process is the transformation of the “son of man” into a new hero of progressive youth. I feel like Magritte just hit the nail in his coffin.

What do we get as a result? One of key images the artist has been vulgarized and commercialized. On the other hand, isn't this proof of worldwide fame?

During his life, Magritte painted about 2,000 paintings, in 50 of which the hat appears. The artist painted it between 1926 and 1966, and it became a hallmark of Rene's work.

Previously, bowler hats were worn by ordinary representatives of the bourgeoisie, who did not particularly want to stand out from the crowd. “The bowler hat... is not surprising,” Magritte said in 1966. “This is a headdress that is not original. The man with the bowler hat is simply a middle-class man [hidden] in his anonymity. I wear it too. I don't try to stand out."

Rene Magritte. 1938

Bowler hats were introduced into fashion specifically for the British middle class in the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the bowler hat became one of the most popular hats. The headdress was considered informal and practical at the same time, making it a mandatory part of a man's wardrobe.

True, in the 1920s there were also episodes when the accessory featured in Magritte’s career. At that time, the artist left his work as an illustrator for a fashion catalogue. Early paintings contain references to pop culture, which was then associated with the bowler hat. Magritte, who was a passionate lover crime literature, worked on the film "Killer in Danger", where two detectives in bowler hats prepare to enter the room where a murder has been committed.

The killer is in danger. 1927

Then the artist abandoned the “hat” motif, not using it for several decades. Hats reappeared on canvas in the fifties and sixties, becoming an important part of Rene's late career. By that time, associations with a man in a hat had changed dramatically: from a clear reference to the profession (detectives, mainly) to a symbol of the middle class.

But, as it should be in Magritte’s work, everything is not as it seems to us. "He plays with this feeling: 'We think we know who this person is, but do we?' says Caitlin Haskell, organizer of the Rene Magritte exhibition in San Francisco. “There is a sense of intrigue here, despite the fact that the figure itself is stereotypically bourgeois and is not of particular interest.”

A masterpiece, or the secrets of the horizon. 1955

“If you take the genius of Magritte and have to describe it in one sentence: “Why is Magritte so important?” Why are his images integral part public imagination and consciousness?” This is because he creates incredibly clear and clear paintings that have no clear meaning,” says Anne Umland, curator of paintings and sculpture at the New York Museum. contemporary art. “The bowler hat works that way.”

There is a theory that the hat functioned as an “anonymizer” for Rene himself. Around the time that hats reappeared in paintings, Magritte began wearing a hat for photo shoots. It is quite possible that the gallant gentlemen from the paintings are self-portraits of Rene himself.

This is illustrated in a painting called "Son of Man", which acts as a self-portrait of the artist. Rene draws himself a bowler hat and large apple, floating in front of his face, overshadowing his true personality.

Son of man. 1964

However, in the 50s, the streets of the city ceased to abound in bowler hats. The accessory became old-fashioned, and trend-following city dwellers had to give it up. Then Magritte's hats, painted in realistic style(at the height of abstract expressionism), became a symbol of anonymity. In Rene's paintings they came to the fore, instead of disappearing into the faceless crowd.

In fact, bowler hats became Magritte's iconographic signature. It turns out to be a funny irony: the artist chose a detail that would ensure unrecognizability, but everything worked the other way around. Now the bowler hat is one of the main objects of the work of the legendary Rene Magritte.