Artist: Rene Magritte

Born: November 21, 1898 in Lessines, Belgium

Died: August 15, 1967 in Lessines, Belgium
What type of artist: Rene was an amazing painter.
Art Period(s): Rene was a surrealist and modern artist.
What stands out as the most important facts about
the artist?
Rene did not gain any recognition or fame for his art until his 50s.
Renes family was publically humiliated after his mother committed suicide
by drowning herself in the River Sambre.
Rene left school because he thought that it was a waste of time.

What are some of this artist's most well-known

works?
The Treachery of Images (1929)
The Son of Man (1964)
The Lovers (1928)
What makes this person's art great?
Renes art is great because his images are witty and thought provoking. He
used simple graphics and everyday imagery to create his provocative
paintings. He had a huge impact on the advertising industry. His images
often features flaming tubas or men in bowler hats. He loved to make people
wonder on what his art was and it was absolutely amazing.

Why did you choose this artist?

I chose Rene Magritte because I thought his art was very interesting. He has
an obvious theme to most of his artwork. He loved to create interesting
paintings that made you have to think and analyze his work. His work is very
provocative and can be explained many different ways, but none of them are
right. He painted very mysterious things and he never planned for them to
have a meaning. I thought all of his work was just super cool to look at.

Be an Art Critic:
The work of art I am critiquing is called... The Lovers

The artist's name is Rene Magritte

This is what I see when I look at the artwork... I see two people, a girl
and a boy, who have white sheets over their faces. They are kissing through the
sheets and very close together. There are very neutral, soft colors in this painting as
well.

All art is made using a variety of art elements: line, shape, color,
texture and space. The one or two elements that stand out in this
piece of work are: Shape and Texture. Rene used shape in this painting to show
that the two bodies are kissing. The viewer can clearly see the nose of the man and
where the two people come together. Rene used texture in this painting on the
sheet covering their faces. There are folds in the sheet to highlight their head shape
and well as show how the sheet is laying on their heads.

Artists create a mood with their work. . The mood for this artwork
is: Desire and Passion. Desire is a theme of this painting because there is a barrier
between the two bodies, but they are still managing to come into contact with each
other. They have a mutual desire to be in contact which also shows the passion
between the two. Even though the fabric is covering them, they still want to be
together. This painting makes me feel bad for the lovers because they are not able
to show themselves completely to each other and all they want to do is be with
each other.

Artists try to communicate or send messages with their art work.

What message do you think the artist was trying to send with this
work?
In this piece of art I think that Rene is trying to send the message of not being able
to fully open up. I think that the sheet over the lovers faces is a symbol of how they
are being restricted and how they wont be able to fully open up to each other. They
wont be able to share themselves completely and they may even be holding back
feelings from each other.