Magritte: A Life

About this book

The first major biography of the pathbreaking perpetually influential surrealist artist and iconoclast whose inspiration can be seen in everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyoncby the celebrated biographer of Czanne and Braque In this thought-provoking life of Ren Magritte (1898-1967) Alex Danchev makes a compelling case for Magritte as the single most significant purveyor of images to the modern world. Magrittes surreal sensibility deadpan melodrama and fine-tuned outrageousness have become an inescapable part of our visual landscape through such legendary works as The Treachery of Images (Ceci nest pas une pipe) and his celebrated iterations of Man in a Bowler Hat. Danchev explores the path of this highly unconventional artist from his middle-class Belgian beginnings to the years during which he led a small brilliant band of surrealists (and famously clashed with Andr Breton) to his first major retrospective which traveled to the United States in 1965 and gave rise to his international reputation. Using 50 color images and more than 160 black-and-white illustrations Danchev delves deeply into Magrittes artistic development and the profound questions he raised in his work about the very nature of authenticity. This is a vital biography for our time that plumbs the mystery of an iconoclast whose influence can be seen in everyone from Jasper Johns to Beyonc.