L'Empire des Lumières, 1954
View Similar Items
René MagritteL'Empire des Lumières, 19542023
2023
About the Item
- Creator:René Magritte (1898-1967, Belgian)
- Creation Year:2023
- Dimensions:Height: 57.88 in (147 cm)Width: 45.28 in (115 cm)Depth: 1.97 in (5 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:Limited Edition of 85Price: $6,102
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Lochau, AT
- Reference Number:Seller: REMAG_EMPIR1stDibs: LU2677213498492
René Magritte
René Magritte is celebrated today as one of Surrealism’s most talented artists, and, alongside Salvador Dalí, the cheeky, subversive Belgian painter and author is the movement’s best-known representative, having cemented his legacy with what may be the most iconic five words in all of art history: “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (This is not a pipe).
Magritte’s success, though, hardly came overnight. Born in 1898 in Lessines to a wealthy manufacturer, he studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels from 1916 to 1918 but quit before graduation. His early artistic work wavered between Cubism and semi-abstraction, and he found work as a graphic designer while experimenting with his own creative oeuvre. In the mid-1920s, he began to experiment with Surrealism, then a relatively nascent movement that had grown out of the absurdist Dada. Led by André Breton, Surrealism endeavored to record elements of the subconscious and present contradictory, sometimes even nonsensical, narratives that challenged the notion of an absolute reality.
Magritte’s first widely recognized work within this genre was 1927’s The Menaced Assassin, now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Shortly after completing this work, Magritte relocated to Paris, to be closer to Breton and the center of the Surrealist movement. This decision would prove critical in his life — and in the trajectory of Surrealist art history. The three years Magritte spent in Paris were his most prolific, and by the close of the 1920s he had completed some of his best-known work, including the seminal 1929 The Treachery of Images, a simple picture of what appears to be a pipe, with the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” in neat script below it.
Magritte returned to Brussels in the early 1930s but continued experimenting with work that wavered between dreamlike and nonsensical. His influences throughout this part of his career ranged from Breton to Giorgio de Chirico and Dalí. While living in German-occupied Belgium beginning in the early 1940s, Magritte entered what is often called his Renoir period or what he labeled “Sunlit Surrealism.” He worked in comparatively brighter, more vibrant colors and produced oil paintings and gouaches that were overrun with light and the type of brushstrokes that are usually associated with Impressionist art.
Like many artists during and after the war, Magritte thought deeply about art’s role in answering big existential questions and broke with Surrealism as a result. His Impressionistic The Fifth Season in 1943 resembled little of what he’d painted in years past. His so-called Vache period that followed would represent another stylistic shift that owed to German Expressionism. Not everything changed, however; Magritte would go on to revisit his earliest creative impulses, in some cases appropriating elements from fellow artists in his own depictions, as with his Perspective II: Manet’s Balcony in 1950, a playful and probing reinterpretation of Edouard Manet’s The Balcony. Later in his career, the artist dabbled in sculpture, before dying in 1967.
Find original René Magritte prints and other art on 1stDibs.
- Portrait of a Self Portrait of a Self, as ElvisBy Douglas GordonLocated in Lochau, ATCollaborating with Douglas Gordon is by itself, an extraordinary experience. The sulfurous Scottish artist entrusted LITO Editions with four new artworks from its most emblematic ser...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
- Red, Nine TimesBy Peter HalleyLocated in Lochau, AT“Red, Nine Times” is the mesmerizing result of one year of collaboration with Peter Halley. It is his first experimentation with an entirely new process and tool - LITO Hi-Rnd© techn...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
- Blue, Nine TimesBy Peter HalleyLocated in Lochau, AT“Blue, Nine Times” is the mesmerizing result of one year of collaboration with Peter Halley. It is his first experimentation with an entirely new process and tool - LITO Hi-Rnd© tech...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
- MeltBy Erwin WurmLocated in Lochau, ATThis exclusive high-rendered print draws from Erwin Wurm’s recent but already iconic ‘Flat Sculptures’ series, praised by public institutions and private collectors alike. LIGHT orig...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
$8,795 - Portrait of a Self Portrait of a Self, as MarilynoBy Douglas GordonLocated in Lochau, ATCollaborating with Douglas Gordon is by itself, an extraordinary experience. The sulfurous Scottish artist entrusted LITO Editions with four new artworks from its most emblematic ser...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
- WobblyBy Erwin WurmLocated in Lochau, ATThis exclusive high-rendered print draws from Erwin Wurm’s recent but already iconic ‘Flat Sculptures’ series, praised by public institutions and private collectors alike. WOBBLY ori...Category
15th Century and Earlier Contemporary Prints and Multiples
MaterialsOther Medium
$8,795
- Surrealism between two wars, International Anthology of Contemporary EngravingBy Marcel DuchampLocated in London, GBThe complete set of eleven engravings by Jean Arp, Hans Bellmer, Victor Brauner, Paul Delvaux, Marcel Duchamp, Wilhelm Freddie, Wifredo Lam, René Magritte, André Masson, Roberto Matt...Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsEngraving
- Salvador Dali - Nude with Guitar - Original EtchingBy Salvador DalíLocated in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CHSalvador Dali - Nude with Guitar - Original Etching Dimensions: 38 x 28 cm Edition: 235 1967 embossed signature On Arches Vellum References : Field 67-10 (p. 34-35)Category
1960s Surrealist Nude Prints
MaterialsEtching
- Dali 33 Vertical Portrait de Calderon engraving paintingBy Salvador DalíLocated in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FLWork of the Spanish artist SALVADOR DALI. Engraving of the series LA VIDA ES SUEÑO. Printed signature and date, as issued Catalog. OFFICIAL CATALOG GRAPHYC WORKS BY ALBERT FIELD Page...Category
Late 20th Century Surrealist Abstract Prints
MaterialsEngraving
- The Absolute Real - Lithograph by Man Ray - 1964By Man RayLocated in Roma, ITThe Absolute Real is a lithograph realized by Man Ray in 1964. Hand-singed in pencil by the Artist. Lithograph in Red Ink, 1964. Published by Schwarz, the lithograph is part of th...Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph, Paper
- Shimmering Nexus - Digital Print by Kevin Abanto - 2023Located in Roma, ITShimmering Nexus emerges as a visual nexus of luminous connections, where forms weave an intricate narrative. The canvas becomes a realm of intersecting elements, each shimmer a poin...Category
2010s Surrealist More Prints
MaterialsDigital
- Sartorial Sentiments - Digital Print by Kevin Abanto - 2023Located in Roma, ITEthereal beauty takes tangible Gossamer Grace, where the lines of romantic architecture intertwine with the human figure, swathed in silken drapery that embodies the essence of grace...Category
2010s Surrealist More Prints
MaterialsDigital