Artist: René Magritte
Year: 1965
Medium: Oil on canvas
The Blank Signature (Le blanc-Seing) is a 1965 painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. The work is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was one of Magritte’s last works before his death in 1967. The painting depicts a woman on horseback riding through a forest. Due to an optical illusion employed by the artist, the image is partially fragmented, although at first glance the viewer may perceive it as a coherent whole. The woman and the horse are simultaneously in front of, between, and behind the trees. Her right arm is partially hidden behind a tree that, upon closer inspection, is located in the background. One possible interpretation is that the merging of the forest with the horsewoman suggests a unity of humanity and nature. But as is usually the case with Magritte, the work primarily raises questions, a sense further heightened by the enigmatic title. The painter himself believed that his works required no specific interpretation; every viewer can interpret the work in their own way. He also noted that art critics sometimes saw more—or something entirely different—in his works than he himself had consciously intended.
Glad to see transparency order was broken back then and not just in modern video games
He was a great artist, but I like to imagine he used a mask and started from the hind of the horse then realized he placed it at the wrong tree and was like “fuck it, we’re just doing this now”
I can definitely imagine that. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about the subject, but I think he was probably quite amused by the pseudo-intellectual ramblings the art world came up with when discussing his works in the culture sections or elsewhere.
The use of the saplings to blend the foreground into the far off, distant trees in the background is really good
Good eye, you make me notice it! Thank you!
Welcome to the Grand Illusion
Come on in and see what’s happening…
Gah, MC Escher eat your heart out.
Fuck, this is good
This is not a painting by Magritte.
You’re right, it’s merely an electronic image of one
Wait, is this a pipe?
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:)
This is one of two images I ever bought a print of.
Went to the Smithsonian during a school related DC trip. Had my mind absolutely blown by seeing art in person instead of just pics in a book. The impressionist stuff was what really hit the hardest, but when I was digging through the gift shop, already about to catch hell for not being on the bus at the designated time, this and a Monet were right next to each other.
So, being a teenager, I said fuck it and grabbed both.
They hung on my walls until I moved out. Then, they hung on my walls until time made them fall apart.
It’s still my favorite Magritte.
I know the feeling. I used to have a study hall in the library, and I often spent it perusing big art books, and got to know the main artists and masterpieces pretty well.
In college, I took my first school trip to NYC to see the King Tut exhibit, and we also went to MOMA, where I saw Guernica for the first and only time. I had read about it a lot, and had seen it in books many times, but I wasn’t prepared for its overwhelming size. It was FAR bigger than I expected, and it made a serious impact on me. In books, or on the Internet, all art is more or less the same size, the size of the page, or the screen. Guernica and a Vermeer are literally the same size, until you see them on a wall and realize that the Guernica is meant to punch you in the face, while the Vermeer is a tiny perfect jewel.
Since that trip in the early 80s, I try very hard to see the local art museum whenever I travel. Some have been surprisingly great (Rochester), some have been beyond awful (Mobile), but I’ve learned something about art from all of them.
And I still get surprised. I took my son to the Dali Museum in St Petersburg when he was in middle school, and didn’t really know who Dali was. I was shocked at the incredible size of many of his most iconic works. They were huge, and filled with detail from corner to corner. Truly incredible.
As for my son, he had the same reaction that you and I had, and was transformed by seeing real art LIVE, where you can bask in the size, the colors, the magnitude of the experience of standing in front of an original work by a legendary, iconic artist. To this day, he will NEVER say no to an art museum.
I was glad to see someone talking about the same sort of experience with art.
That’s the beauty of art. That transformative, powerful response to the creation of our fellow humans. I wish that all art could be just as powerful at coffee table book size, but even if it were, I think that seeing it in person, with the right lighting and space to move around a piece allows so much deeper am experience that it still wouldn’t displace museums and galleries.
When I saw Van Gogh’s Starry Night in person, I could get close enough to see, and even photograph his Iconic brushstrokes. You can’t get that in a book.
I like it.
That is some very clever mind bending shit.
Yeah, that was totally Magritte’s thing. He painted a lot of clever—and also pretty strange—pictures. A surrealist through and through, and even one of the best-known representatives of the movement. He was particularly recognized for placing familiar objects in unusual and unexpected settings.
If you like that kind of art and happen to be in the area, I highly recommend the Dalí Theater-Museum in Figueres (Spain)—it’s pretty trippy.
Never heard of him
(/s)
There is also a very good Dali museum in St. Petersburg, Florida as well.
I just wrote about it in another post, but the St Petersburg Dali Museum is incredible. It contains many of his most iconic masterpieces.
While you are in town, see the Chihuly Exhibit at the Morean Arts Center. He’s widely considered the leading glass artist on the world, and the Morean Gallery is entirely devoted to his beautiful glass.
We did the Chihuly in the morning, had lunch, and did the Dali in the afternoon. It was perfect day of brilliant art, in a beautiful place.
Also bought the tix on Groupon and saved enough money that it paid for lunch!
I grew up down there. I go every time I visit home. Been a few years, but I feel like I remember some wild glass exhibit we hit on our last visit. I don’t know how it is these days, but that used to be a great town for live music too
I’m due to go back.
I am too but I got a lot going on right now. Hopefully in a year or two.
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