Art

Magritte

Magritte

  • Downloads：2102
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-02-25 07:52:35
  • Update Date：2025-09-13
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Alex Danchev
  • ISBN：1781250774
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

'The first significant biography of the artist' Michael Prodger， The Times' 'Best art books of 2021'

'For those who love Magritte and those who do not， Danchev's biography will come as a revelation' Literary Review

'[A] monumental biography of the inimitable surrealist artist 。。。 sure to be the definitive account of the extraordinary artist's life' Publishers Weekly

The first major biography for our time， from the celebrated biographer of C�zanne

Ren� Magritte's surreal sensibility， deadpan melodrama， and fine-tuned outrageousness have all become inescapably part of our times。 But these groundbreaking subversions all came from a middle-class Belgian gent， who kept a modest house in a Brussels suburb and whose first one-man show sold absolutely nothing。

Through a deep examination of Magritte's friendships and his artistic development， Alex Danchev explores the path of an highly unconventional artist who posed profound questions about the relationship between image and reality， challenged the very nature of authenticity and whose influence can be seen in the work of everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyonc�。

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Reviews

Bookoholiccafe ，

I have always admired Magritte's works and I found this biography very well-written and fascinating。 I have always admired Magritte's works and I found this biography very well-written and fascinating。 。。。more

Alex ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This book wasn’t for me but I don’t know that it’s for anybody， really。 It’s scholarly but organized weirdly—chronologically but without much care put into the weight of events。 Shocking and interesting events are merely mentioned， interspersed with very lengthy accounts of minor events。 Maybe the author was attempting to write in the subject’s painting style？It also kind of broke my heart， reading about Magritte himself。 I adore his work and am hugely inspired by it。 Reading about his abhorrent This book wasn’t for me but I don’t know that it’s for anybody， really。 It’s scholarly but organized weirdly—chronologically but without much care put into the weight of events。 Shocking and interesting events are merely mentioned， interspersed with very lengthy accounts of minor events。 Maybe the author was attempting to write in the subject’s painting style？It also kind of broke my heart， reading about Magritte himself。 I adore his work and am hugely inspired by it。 Reading about his abhorrent behavior towards women （including possibly rape and sexual abuse of minor models， again， without much compassion or resolution， was off putting， to say the least。 There are also a number of accounts of bullying， cajoling， and the like that really paint a pretty ugly picture。 Disappointing in every regard。 I did not finish it。 。。。more

Jackie ，

A well done biography of an unsavory man。 Another case of admiring the art， but not the artist。

Drew Plummer ，

Confused and challenging， overall I would steer clear of this one。 I'll echo a few other reviewers here by saying that despite a personal fascination with Magritte's art， this book was a bit of a slog。 It had quite a few interesting episodes and anecdotes that shed （some） light on Magritte's choices of themes， and some that illuminated a bit of his character， but overall it lacked a consistent structure or narrative。 I very much felt that the author was using available source material to focus d Confused and challenging， overall I would steer clear of this one。 I'll echo a few other reviewers here by saying that despite a personal fascination with Magritte's art， this book was a bit of a slog。 It had quite a few interesting episodes and anecdotes that shed （some） light on Magritte's choices of themes， and some that illuminated a bit of his character， but overall it lacked a consistent structure or narrative。 I very much felt that the author was using available source material to focus deeply on certain well-documented aspects of Magritte's life （his younger days， his conflicts with Breton and the inner circle of Surrealism， his marriage） while leaving huge gaps。 I absolutely did not walk way feeling like I really had gained a solid understanding of Magritte as a man， or a coherent understanding of his artistic development。 From an art criticism perspective， the book suffered from the same lack of cohesion that is does when considered as a biography。 The more iconic pieces are indeed discussed， but not in a way that allows them the fit well into a larger picture， either in Magritte's own development or with his contemporaries。 Fairly lavishly illustrated in black in white in addition to some color plates， the illustrations are rendered somewhat frustrating by a lack of captions or clarity。 。。。more

Samantha ，

A thorough account of the life and work of Rene Magritte。Danchev’s carefully researched account of Magritte’s contributions to Surrealism and to the art world in general is a good example of excellent research translating into a book that is…just ok。The information is excellent is quality and breadth， but the writing lacks the panache and dynamism required for truly good nonfiction。 Artist monographs are tough hangs in general with a few very notable exceptions （due either to the extraordinary c A thorough account of the life and work of Rene Magritte。Danchev’s carefully researched account of Magritte’s contributions to Surrealism and to the art world in general is a good example of excellent research translating into a book that is…just ok。The information is excellent is quality and breadth， but the writing lacks the panache and dynamism required for truly good nonfiction。 Artist monographs are tough hangs in general with a few very notable exceptions （due either to the extraordinary circumstances of the artist’s life or the extraordinary skill of the biographer）。 This one has neither of those things， and even for someone like me who doesn’t mind slightly dry nonfiction and has multiple Art History degrees， it mostly feels respectably researched and compiled rather than “good。” The book does have some truly compelling， fun segments， but those mostly result directly from a direct account of a small incident in Magritte’s life。 *I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review。* 。。。more

Booksandcoffeepleasemx ，

𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨， 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨！I’m a big fan of any form of art and I always found Magritte’s work impressive and phenomenal so when I received this book I was beyond excited。 A remarkable biography， I loved every page of it。Thank you Pantheon Books for this gifted copy。𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘈𝘳𝘵， 𝘕𝘰𝘯-𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯， 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘴， 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴， 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰， 𝘊𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵。https://www。instagram。com/booksandcof。。。 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨， 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨！I’m a big fan of any form of art and I always found Magritte’s work impressive and phenomenal so when I received this book I was beyond excited。 A remarkable biography， I loved every page of it。Thank you Pantheon Books for this gifted copy。𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘈𝘳𝘵， 𝘕𝘰𝘯-𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯， 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘴， 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘴， 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘈𝘳𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘰， 𝘊𝘶𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘗𝘰𝘴𝘵-𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮， 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵。https://www。instagram。com/booksandcof。。。 。。。more

Barbara ，

I learned a lot but there is so much information in here that it wears you out。 Best lesson was Magritte’s moved his art from HOW it was to be painted to WHAT was to be painted。 thus he painted the same color sky， water， waves etc

Leslie Zemeckis ，

Love this artist’s work or hate it you might end up feeling the same about the man。 An in depth look at the influences of surrealist Rene Magritte， possible forger， serial letter writer， serial adulterer … fascinating look at the man from his birth， who his mothers suicide affected him through to his long marriage and death

3 Things About This Book ，

I’m not going to lie I skipped so many passages because I could not turn a page for 10 minutes。 I like Magritte。 Compared to other surrealists， his works are bit less abstract and require more of Freudian analysis。 But do I need to know this much about Magritte？ Probably not。It would be a great resource if I were to write a thesis on Magritte。 There were so many things you cannot find on Wikipedia or little summaries in museums’ intros。 But as a novice level fan， I had hard time keeping myself a I’m not going to lie I skipped so many passages because I could not turn a page for 10 minutes。 I like Magritte。 Compared to other surrealists， his works are bit less abstract and require more of Freudian analysis。 But do I need to know this much about Magritte？ Probably not。It would be a great resource if I were to write a thesis on Magritte。 There were so many things you cannot find on Wikipedia or little summaries in museums’ intros。 But as a novice level fan， I had hard time keeping myself alert and awake enough to consume this information。If you are super duper Magritte fan or planning to study him， you might find this book extremely helpful。 However， it’s too detailed and not so engaging to read for ‘fun’。 。。。more

Vanessa ，

If you ever wanted to know way too many things about Magritte， this is definitely the book for you。 Magritte is one of my favorite artists。 His particular mix of surrealism and existentialism （though I've never heard to him actually referred to that way） appeals to me a great deal。 But I feel like I really didn't need to know so much about his early life， which seems to have been a giant running practical joke。 Or something he made up and/or embellished along the way。 It's hard to tell how much If you ever wanted to know way too many things about Magritte， this is definitely the book for you。 Magritte is one of my favorite artists。 His particular mix of surrealism and existentialism （though I've never heard to him actually referred to that way） appeals to me a great deal。 But I feel like I really didn't need to know so much about his early life， which seems to have been a giant running practical joke。 Or something he made up and/or embellished along the way。 It's hard to tell how much of this stuff is true。 I'm not really sure that it matters。 As a French speaker， I also found it distracting that the author kept trying to translate things for me。 I have no idea what I thought I was getting into， but this didn't really do it for me。 It is well written。 It flows nicely。 And I think the author did a great job of putting together source materials。 I just don't think he had a great deal to work with。 Also， the author died before finishing this， so I wonder how different the finished product would have been if he had actually finished and done his own edits。 I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Magritte

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Magritte&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Magritte&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0