Parker Jewell

Class 8
The Son Of Man
Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He was a man known for
his natural imagery. Rene was born in Belgium in 1898. He died August 15th,
1967 at the age of 68.
In 1916 he left Belgium for Brussels, where he studied at Acadmie
Royale des Beaux-Arts for the next two years.
Rene Magritte saw the painting The Song of Love by Italian
surrealist Giorgio de Chirico and was so astounded by its imagery that it sent
his own artwork off in the new direction for which he would become known.
Magritte places dull objects like hats, pipes and rocks in unusual
contexts and juxtaposition, Magritte implemented themes of mystery and
madness to challenge the assumptions of human perception. With early
success such as The Lost Jockey and The Menaced Assassin Magritte quickly
became one of the most important artists in Belgium and found himself in
the middle of its surrealist movement.
Rene Magritte said, Everything we see hides another thing, we always
want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which
is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the
form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the
visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.
Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist

We are surrounded by curtains. We only perceive the world behind a curtain

of semblance. At the same time, an object needs to be covered in order to be
recognized at all.
The very first time I saw Rene Margritte's painting, "The Son Of Man" I
thought the artwork was a masterpiece. It blended the real life with the
unknown. I thought Rene was a genius for using an apple on the guys face. I
knew it was a male because he was wearing a top hat with a suit. The man
was standing in front of the ocean which made me believe Rene has a
message behind this painting.
Rene painted a man standing in front of a short brick wall. It looks
more of a viewpoint of the ocean. The man is standing with both of his hands
to the side with his left hand being in his pocket or behind his back. There is
an green apple hanging in front of the guys face so you actually are not
aware of what the person actually looks like. The man is wearing a black top
hat with a black suit and white shirt. The man is wearing a red tie.
Rene uses a variety of elements and principles to design his
masterpiece. He uses mostly shapes in this artwork with very little variety of
lines. The sky and the bricks have a lot of texture like they are visually
appealing and life like. Rene places the son of man in the middle of the
painting to serve as the focal point with a lot of space behind the man. The
artwork has very good value with a luminescent back round. You can confirm
that the artwork is taking place outside. The artwork has great balance and
the proportions look almost exact. Rene did a good job harmonizing his

works. The rhythm of the clouds just set the mood and make the artwork
look more realistic. He demonstrates unity by having the same color hat and
suit it really made a big difference on his artwork.
I believe Rene Margritte wanted his audience to be upset about not
being able to see the face of the man. You can visually see his face but it is
being hidden by the apple. Which in turn will have everyone questioning why
the apple is covering his face. You have an intense feeling inside because the
face is unknown which will have the audience guessing what the person's
face actually looks like. I also believe it could be telling a story of a young
boy who is the son of a successful family. He has to grow from an apple seed
until the face is finally visible.
I believe the Son of Man is a successful work of art because Rene
Margritte uses a formal method to bring a variety of elements and principles
to come up with a well polished work of art. He mimics nature in his artwork
with the ocean, sky, and fruit in front of the persons face. He is hedonist
because the audience will get some kind of emotion or pleasure out of this
art work. He expresses his own artwork to communicate a well thought up
message to his audience.