Magritte, ou la lecon de chose

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Good to find this one at last with English subtitles. Magritte, ou la lecon de chose is a short study of René Magritte’s paintings made in 1960 by Luc De Hersch. The title translates as “Magritte, or The Object Lesson”, and the film is of note for a few brief scenes in which the artist becomes a performer in order to communicate something of his aesthetic philosophy. We’re also shown a scene of Magritte and friends choosing a title for one of his paintings, while a voiceover provides further explication of the Magrittian view of reality. Given the access the director had to the artist, the film is frustratingly short but it serves as a reminder that there was a time when Magritte’s paintings seemed much more mysterious than they do today.

Previously on { feuilleton }
René Magritte album covers
Monsieur René Magritte, a film by Adrian Maben
George Melly’s Memoirs of a Self-Confessed Surrealist
The Secret Life of Edward James
René Magritte by David Wheatley