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Indepth Arts News:
"Magritte"
1999-08-06 until 1999-11-28
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Humlebaek, ,
DK Denmark
I don't paint visions. To the best of my ability, by
painterly means, I describe objects - and the mutual
relationship of objects - in such a way that none of
our habitual concepts or feelings is necessarily
linked with them.
(Quotation: René Magritte, 1898-1967)
Magritte, Louisiana's main autumn exhibition, includes two
major Magritte works never previously shown to a European
public. One is the painting entitled Les Valeurs Personelles
(Personal Values) of 1952, the other Le Tombeau des lutteurs
(The Tomb of the Wrestlers) of 1960. These two works formed
part of a private American collection, recently auctioned off,
and have been shown publicly only once before, at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1992. For the first
time, Le Tombeau des lutteurs will be displayed alongside La
Chambre d'écoute (The Listening Room) of 1952 and
L'Anniversaire (The Anniversary) of 1959, all three of which
treat similar pictorial problems.
The approach adopted at this Magritte exhibition has been
to examine the artist as a forerunner and source of inspiration
for Pop and Conceptual art. Since inspiration of this kind is
quite complex, it has not been our intention to indicate a direct
influence, but rather to present works by Magritte that can be
considered to contain the seeds of further development. There
is no doubt that Magritte was an inspiration, both as a painter
and as a man of ideas. One of the reasons why Magritte's
oeuvre catches the attention is that it touches, in a profound
way, on human and existential conditions which we recognise
from our own lives, problems which Magritte sheds light upon
and gives expression. His analysis of our common traumas
and the complexities of life appeals to something within us all,
something we all understand - which is why Magritte is not only
extremely popular with the general public but has exerted a
great influence on succeeding generations of artists as well.
The Louisiana Revy
In connection with the exhibition, a catalogue will be published
as an issue of the Louisiana Revy with a preface by Steingrim
Laursen. The further content includes an article by professor
Siegfried Gohr entitled The Visible Secret of René Magritte,
as well as a biography, a list of works and colour
reproductions of the exhibited works.
CD-Rom and Films
The public can learn about the painter and his work from the
interactive CD-Rom presentation entitled The Mystery of
Magritte. In addition, two films will be shown: La Fidélité
des images, a montage of Magritte's own films, and a
completely new film on Magritte entitled Attempting the
Impossible, made in 1999 by Bernard Crutzen and Pierre
Sterckx.
Lecture in English on Saturday, 18 September 1999, at 2 pm,
Mr. Richard Calvocoressi, director of The Scottish National
Gallery of Modern Art - where the exhibition will later be shown
- will give a lecture entitled Artist of the Century: René
Magritte in which he discusses Magritte's relevance to
succeeding generations of artists.
After the show at Louisiana, the exhibition will travel to The
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, and
subsequently to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Admission: 65 DKK.
The main sponsor of the 1999 exhibitions at Louisiana is
Nykredit.
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