A guide for the MOMA

An guide for the MoMa

The work of art that I chose to present to you is « The Lovers ».

[pic 1]

I- INTRODUCTION:

« The Lovers » is a painting realised by René Magritte in 1928.

Its dimensions are 54×73 cm. It is an oil on canvas that represents a portrait. This painting belong to the surrealist movment.

René Magritte is a belgian surrealistic artist who was born in 1898 and died in 1967.

When René Magritte has painted this work of art in 1928 , he was living in a parisian suburb where he socialized with some artists like Paul Eluard and a parisian surrealistic group.

II-DESCRIPTION

Both characters have their faces hidden.

They're face to face and kiss each other, the woman is on the left and the man on the right and take most of the canvas. The woman is wearing a red dress and the man is wearing a suit. In the background the setting is simple, composed of a wall, a ceiling and a cornice.

On the back wall a stormy sky is represented, which reinforces the strangeness of the painting.The lighting is cold and contrasted, it comes from the left. The dominant colors are red, black and white. The red wall reminds the woman's dress and the ceiling, the woman's skin.

The framing is cinematographic, a close-up, we are almost in the privacy of the couple.

III-INTERPRETATION

Lovers are veiled for different possible reasons:

• so that we don't recognize them;

• to signify that they love each other without seeing each other;

• to show that they already know each other and that they don’t need to see each other to love each other;

• to mean that to live happily, you have to live in hiding.

The veil shows that even if these people love each other, there is an incommunicability between them. The fact that they are veiled makes the painting mysterious because we don't know clearly the cause of this outfit, it also highlights the characters. It is a technique taken by other artists currently, "we hide to show better"

IV-CONCLUSION

René Magritte has represented a couple with hidden faces. The veil enhances the characters and makes the painting enigmatic. We don't know the reason : not to be recognized, to show that we don't need to see each other to love each other; but it creates an incommunicability between the two characters.

Other artists like Christo and Jeanne-Claude use the technique of hiding to show better with works such as The New Bridge Packed or with Surrounded Islands.

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