Marcel Paquet

The great Belgian Surrealist. A sense of the amazing, the surprising, and the ridiculous in Magritte's paintings. It is impossible to overlook the influence of Rene Magritte (1898-1967) on contemporary art. His surrealistic painting turns the usual order of things ironically on its head, thus restoring mystery to a world that has lost its magic. His work typically conveys a sense of the amazing, the surprising, and the ridiculous - but also the unsettling. Without a specific message, Magritte's paintings nonetheless speak to us, creating a connection between opposites on an associative level. Thus a dinner roll can with complete naturalness fly past a barred dungeon opening. In discussing his art, Magritte spoke of 'inspired thoughts': he was indeed a painter-philosopher who thought in pictorial form and moved with seemingly playful lightness in the exalted atmosphere of his own imagination. Every book in TASCHEN's "Basic Art Series" features: a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist; approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions; and, a concise biography.

This is not a book: Everyday enigma from Belgium's leading Surrealist From men in bowler hats, floating in the sky, to a painting of a pipe above the caption "this is not a pipe,"Rene Magritte (1898 1967)created an echo-chamber of object and image, name and thing, reality and representation.Like other Surrealist works, Magritte's paintings combine a precise, mimetic technique with abnormal, alienating configurations which defy the laws of scale, logic, and science: A comb the height of a wardrobe, rocks that float in the sky, clouds that drift through an open door. The result is a direct yet disorientating realm, often witty, often unsettling, and always prompting us to look beyond the visible, to what is hidden by what we see. This introductory book explores Magritte's vast repertoire ofvisual humor, paradox, and surprisewhich to this day makes us look and look again, not only at the painting, but at our sense of self and the world. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions "