Painting the Mundane: An Examination of the Life and Career of René Magritte

Abstract

This thesis explores the important role René Magritte's biography plays in relation to his work as a painter. His works were primarily inspired by his middle class lifestyle and upbringing, something that was uncommon among the Surrealists. He is largely associated with the Surrealist movement of the 20th century, although he primarily worked without specific allegiance to an artistic group. A thorough examination of his life sheds light on his uncharacteristically un-avant garde lifestyle. His rejection of luxury and excess were in contrast to the fortune and notoriety sought by some of his contemporaries. While other Surrealists desired to live the bohemian, artistic lifestyle expected by the public, Magritte rebuffed the notion and aimed to live as an anonymous bourgeois man. The effect Magritte's biography had on his work is examined through his career as a commercial artist, his use of the Bowler-Hatted man, and his influence on the 1960s Pop Art movement. The relationship between biography and work is made by René Magritte's own words, those of his colleagues and contemporaries, and several noted scholars of Magritte