This is
not a Portrait
My favorite portrait is "The Great War" by Magritte. I love
this painting, because it is so surreal and strange. The portrait
depicts a man wearing a bowler hat and suit, with an apple in front
of his face. René Magritte is a famous surrealist, his most
famous painting being "The Treachery
of Images." The painting is of a pipe with a subtitle reading
"Ceçi n'est pas une pipe" which translates to "This
is not a pipe." This is true. It is not a pipe; it is a painting
of a pipe. Magritte is famous for his paintings of men in bowler hats,
generally doing something very odd, such as raining.
He has another painting of an apple of a
generous size, taking up the whole room in which it is set. A story
I’ve heard about this painting says that it is a self-portrait.
He was well known to wear bowler hats and
suits on a regular basis, so it may very well be true. The story tells
that a man once asked Magritte to paint himself, but he had no desire
to do so. So, he put an apple in front of his face. Problem solved.
The eye is immediately drawn to the apple in front of the man’s
face. It is so out of place and odd that you can’t help but
look at it. Although the apple is the focal point, it does not overpower
the rest of the painting, keeping a nice balance. The eyes move from
the apple to the rest of the man’s body, roaming over the neatly
pressed suit and bowler hat, until finally looking out over the ocean
and sky behind him. The colors in the background are gray and blue,
somewhat drab, and give the impression of a rainy day beginning to
clear up. It seems as though the painting is a photograph one takes
when on vacation, where a person stands in front of a historic building
or the like. The man seems somewhat stiff, though it is difficult
to tell without any facial expression. The painting is very realistic.
The light all reflects off of one direction, even on the apple. The
background looks like it is behind and below the man, the wall directly
behind him, and the apple directly in front, giving a good sense of
space. The apple, seeming very out of place, adds a nice contrast
to the stiffness of the painting, giving it a funny, and maybe even
satirical edge. The painting repeats itself in the man’s symmetry,
back straight and looking straight ahead, or so we assume. The coldness
of the day is repeated in the man’s appearance, and even the
apple seems somewhat drab. The painting is neither depressing nor
happy, but a nice balance that reflects how many people feel most
of the time.
