A storm at sea

I was writing to an artist associate of mine today, when I brought up the subject of Rene Magritte's depiction of balusters in his paintings (a baluster being a decorative column, seen in architecture or furniture). This made me think of a couple of Surrealist paintings of Magritte's which I have long admired, but lately hadn't seen, and for which I couldn't remember the names!  But a little bit of searching on the internet helped me to recall.  The two paintings are pretty similar, and both are from the year 1926.


One of the paintings is Magritte's "The Birth of the Idol":

The other painting is Magritte's "The Difficult Crossing":

Both paintings reveal a nightmarish domestic setting, seemingly on the verge of upset by a raging storm. The balusters, with their ornate designs, take on a gesture of futility in the midst of such upheaval (it reminds me of the lament of utter pointlessness, "The ship is sinking, and I'm polishing the handrail")!  These paintings are easily enjoyed by anyone, who, like me, loves thunderstorms, and that teetering feeling that one experiences in dreams while flying through the air or flailing in an angry sea.


I wonder if "The Difficult Crossing" might have been the inspiration for Paul Nash's painting, "Harbour and Room", from 1932-1936:

There's room at this table

This is something of a unique painting, by the highly influential, Belgian Surrealist artist Rene Magritte (painted in 1928).  It's called "Man with a Newspaper", and speaks of the passage of time and our mortality in this world:

In a previous post from 3-4-2011, I hinted at the futility of a whole universe which was largely inaccessible to the humans dwelling within it. This painting recalls that impression for me, but also suggests the opposite, that physical people are not necessarily important in the big scheme.  Even objects manufactured by our own hand will persist in their existence, after we have vanished.  Perhaps the picture on the wall was painted by the very man reading his newspaper, left to decay and become indecipherable at an indeterminate rate, and yet assuredly outliving its creator.  Magritte's painting could also been seen as a violation to what martial artist Bruce Lee spoke about, in that man is inseparable from his world, and that one does not exist without the other.  That raises the question of whether the view being seen is that of an impassive object, or the sight of a conscious being.  One person can only cease to exist, if someone else is there to appreciate the fact.  And yet, a person is capable of life, even if solitude were the only likely existence.


Magritte's painting hangs at the Tate Gallery, in London.