Challenging the Predispositions of Reality Through Art
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. What if that picture was worth more than words could ever speak? What if it could define what we call reality and reshape our perception of what we define as “normal”? Belgian artist René Magritte captures the idea of reality and distorts the representation of everyday objects through his work, Les Valeurs Personnelles, or Personal Values, painted in 1952. This artwork not only highlights the values of the time period it was painted, but it also provides insight as to how art truly defines and stretches the boundaries on limitations that society has placed on the human mind, leaving no interpretation in a world full of mysteries, paradoxes,
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Absolutely not. Many would disagree with the vision that Magritte had, including Alexander Iolas, Magritte’s dealer who was shipped Les Valeurs Personnelles in July of 1952. Upon receiving it, Iolas felt extremely upset and confused, and wrote to Magritte in response to these feelings. Magritte responded to Iola’s complaints in a letter by explaining his true vision of the work and how it was not to be approached with a mindset of “irrelevant, utilitarian, and rationalistic considerations.” The rest of this letter addresses the fact that the objects have lost their “social character” and in turn leave the spectator “feeling helpless” or even “ill.” Any other reaction would be presented because the spectator is either “too insensitive” or because they have “got used to this uneasy feeling.” It’s a “defiance of common sense” that’s disoriented and incongruent. Upon first glance you see an arrangement of images that’s seemingly meaningless, but upon further examination, you’re able to interpret your own meaning of the artwork which can’t be seen as right or wrong; Magritte created an ambiguous work that doesn’t leave spectators succumbing to a literal …show more content…
Is it truly explainable? Other forms of art would allow for full explanation of a literal meaning. Magritte adopting an ambiguous style that leaves spectators questioning their predispositions on reality allow for an individualistic perception on his paintings. In a world full of conforming to predisposed visions of reality, an ability to determine a unique perspective on something as complicated as art is critical for the development of our thought process. Everyone has their own unexampled view on what art truly means and how we define it, but the ambiguity of Les Valeurs Personnelles provides a paradox that can’t be easily solved or defined. This is why this work remains relevant today. By associating with the things that exercise our train of thought, we are able to continue the expression of individuality. What would any of us be without our ability to question and challenge the predisposed visions of reality that society has planted in our minds? Just because we don’t understand something doesn’t mean it is meaningless or worthless, it is simply beyond our limits we have set for ourselves in terms of accepting and shaping the reality we are forced to accept today. By being exposed to art, especially ambiguous works such as Les Valeurs Personnelles, we are able to participate in cultures we’re not familiar with, go back in time to see the highlights of a particular time period, learn of a society far
In the Enseigne, art is also shown to serve a function that it has always fulfilled in every society founded on class differences. As a luxury commodity it is an index of social status. It marks the distinction between those who have the leisure and wealth to know about art and posses it, and those who do not. In Gersaint’s signboard, art is presented in a context where its social function is openly and self-consciously declared. In summary, Watteau reveals art to be a product of society, nevertheless he refashions past artistic traditions. Other than other contemporary painters however, his relationship to the past is not presented as a revolt, but rather like the appreciative, attentive commentary of a conversational partner.
Such varied reactions serve to indicate that preconceptions had been formed as to what characterizes a Québec film, and that these preconceptions are assumed to dictate what audiences want to watch. The fact that Le Temps D’Une Chasse is open to various interpretations should not indicate a flaw in the film; rather, it should be seen as representing another aspect of the complex and contradictory social context within which it was produced. "An awareness of contradiction and a willingness to allow this awareness to shape the aesthetic experience are essential elements of modern art’s rebellion against the fixed viewpoint of perspective and linearity that created a sense of order and harmony in the past" (Leach 226).
Many have condemned realist art for “sacrificing beauty for exactitude and obviating conceptual integrity if favour of in-your-face reality”. They argue that the glorification of ordinary, banal subjects may in fact be a pathetic attempt to ignore the drab realities of contemporary life by attempting to ‘spice up’ commonplace objects. Perhaps they think that modern technology and flashy photographical equipment defeats the purpose of original realist art, and provides a far more accurate reproduction of contemporary life. I however, beg to differ. For the realist artist, the vast world is their subject and their aim is to present this world through their art in what they see as their honest representation of it. To label realism as obsolete is to call these artists’ sincere opinions obsolete. People often fail to remember that the world is constantly changing and the ‘ordinary’ doesn’t always remain so. The writer J.P. Stern remarked once that realism is “the creative acknowledgment of the data of social life at a recognisable moment in history”. True, photography and digital technology may produce a more accurate reproduction of real life but representation-wise, a genuine hand-made artwork may in fact offer a far more meaningful result- not merely due to the allowance for modification and
While some art historians attribute Magritte's art to his desire to oppose and combat the triviality of everyday life, others suggest that his work goes beyond escapism and serves to reveal some of the murkier and complex aspects of the human condition. Whatever the impetus was for his art, it is certain that Magritte's works are at once hauntingly beautiful and deeply provocative.
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
René Magritte is a 20th century Belgian Artist. He was influenced by André Breton -a writer known as the founder of surrealism-for his 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, Sigmund Freud-a neurologist-for his psychoanalysis that repetition is a sign of trauma. He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1916 and 1918.1 After leaving because he thought that it was a complete waste of time, and upon meeting Victor Servranckx-a fellow artist who introduced Magritte to futurism, cubism and purism-Jean Metzinger and Fernand Leger had a large influence on his early works of cubism.
The shift between the Middle Ages and Renaissance was documented in art for future generations. It is because of the changes in art during this time that art historians today understand the historical placement and the socio-economic, political, and religious changes of the time. Art is a visual interpretation of one’s beliefs and way of life; it is through the art from these periods that we today understand exactly what was taking place and why it was happening. These shifts did not happen overnight, but instead changed gradually though years and years of art, and it is through them that we have record of some of the most important changes of historic times.
In fact, some of the works presented depict mythological paintings that resemble the transcending Metaphysical matter of nature. Take for instance, the general aspect of the artworks presented in this chapter. They depict different social levels through the use of objects, emotions and various conditions. The lower status contradicts, the slaves to the wealthy and royalty, all delineate the role of the people present in the society and their everyday life. In the images, the poor and the slaves depicted with little to no possessions, looking tired and over-worked. Through their everyday labor, they must survive as a less fortunate person. In contrast to the images of the po...
It does not mean anything because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable." Magritte illustrates the issue of the relationship between light, and dark, day, and night, natural and artificial to attack our virtuous notions of the world. All said, I believe Magritte created The Empire of Light to question our sense of traditional. The Empire of Light challenges our sense of normal, it embraces the notion of abnormal. Magritte takes something that we feel uncomfortable, unnatural and impossible and figuratively shoves it onto our laps. In his biography Magritte by Abraham Marie Hammacher a well-known art historian writes, "Magritte 's work allows one to conjure up a state of being which has become rare and precious - which makes it possible to observe in silence. Reading and reflection call for silence, listening no less. Silence can be used for waiting for an illumined vision of things, and it is to this vision that Magritte introduces us." Hammacher is spot on in his analysis of Magritte, the more you stare at the piece the more you become blanketed by this strange feeling that tempts our sense of mystery. Magritte allows us to fabricate our own lives on this street and produces this effect that mesmerizes the viewer with the notion that there will always be conflicting parts to a story, and that conflict is eternal. He allows the viewer to get their own perspective of the piece from the darkness of the street to the artificial safe haven of the street light to the beautifully conflicting sky. Magritte creates a piece that exclaims "life is
Rene Magritte a Belgian surrealist artist created a painting of a pipe with the words “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” at the bottom. The phrase translates to “This is not a pipe.” The painting challenges the idea that a visual representation of something and a physical object are the same thing. The image is not a pipe, but a picture of a pipe. This paper will discuss three ideas on why people tend to believe the painting is in fact the same thing as a pipe. First, that reality is a social construct, then the idea of master vs. slave and finally the idea of bounded ethicality.
Tyler Radcliffe Mrs. Lowe English 236 18 May 2017 Who Runs the World? The fight for equality is a battle waged by those who have been stomped down by society as a whole. One of the biggest of the oppressed throughout recent history is women, of every variety, class, and skin color. They were thought of as property, something that could not take care of or fend for itself.
Bonheur de Vivre Finally, we look at Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon; a painting of prostitutes from a brothel where Picasso was known to frequent. By comparing this painting to Matisse’s, we begin to see the competition for radicalism in the French art movements of the 20th century (Harris & Zucker, n.d.). Picasso redefines not only art’s intention to represent the world in its natural state, but he redefines modern art’s use of formal elements of line, color, and space. He portrays the women in fragments of form. Harris & Zucker (n.d.) compare these two paintings with the following analysis: Picasso has also dispensed with Matisse’s clear, bright pigments.
Their intellectual horizons which were previously limited to light poetry or novels, have grown to include the vast fields of painting and music…I refer not here to those who, mistaking the vocation of their sex, are filled with the desire to be painters in the same manner as men. Even if the noisy, over familiar atmosphere of the studio itself were not essentially antipathetic to the codes of decency imposed on women, their physical weakness, and their shy and tender imagination would be confused in the presence of the large canvases, and of subjects either too free or too restricting, such as those which normally for...
“In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful, must also reflect decay. Moreover, unless it wants to break faith with its social function, art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it.” This quote by Ernst Fischer, a German composer, means that truth in art exposes the parts of society, and of life, that no one wants to see. In order for art to change society, it must first reflect the fears and failures of its people. The artist can change how people think of themselves and the world by using less conventional methods of creating art. The artist, in doing this, introduces new ideas of human placement in time and space, new frontiers of thought, that are furthered by the disciplines of science and philosophy. The artist works to introduces unique- and sometimes offensive- ideas so that society will be exposed to new ways of thinking and understanding the world. The artist does this through experimentation with color, style, and form. Therefore, the purpose of the artist should be to challenge how individuals perceive themselves and the offensive aspects of society reflected in art to bring about innovations in the greater society.