Was Magritte More a Philosopher Than an Artist? A Peak Beyond the Mysteries
The inquisitive philosophy of René Magritte
While everyone in Paris was drinking peach cocktails, living a bohemian life and fanboying over Sigmund Freud, Magritte took time to develop, dissemble, and renew thought. All while having a job in advertising.
For Magritte, art went far beyond psychoanalysis. And, as someone who has been in the world of psychology for almost half of my life, I cannot help myself but agree with him. However, it would be limiting not to admit the chance of psychoanalytic theories seeping through to him, and coming out visually.
When Magritte was a child, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself. She was found with her face hidden under her gown and her bare body exposed. The Central Story is a deeply intimate painting that is considered to reflect the painter’s mother’s suicide. The woman, whose face is veiled by a white cloth (as seen in some of The Lovers paintings), is choking herself with her left hand.
“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is…
