London visit inspired Ren Magritte to don iconic bowler hat

The Masterpiece, or The Mysteries of the Horizon, by Rene Magritte Jack Malvern Arts Correspondent, The Times Alongside Salvador Dals lobster telephone, Ren Magrittes bo ler hat is the most end!ring moti" o" S!rrealism, re"erenced in pop!lar c!lt!re "rom The Simpsons to The Thomas Cro n A""air# Magrittes obsession ith the hat as ass!med to have beg!n in his native $elgi!m, b!t a ne st!d% s!ggests that his trans"ormation into The Man in the $o ler &at took place in $ritain hen he posed ith hat as probabl% an 'nglish bo ler# A book on Magritte p!blished b% the M!se!m o" Modern Art in (e )ork traces the artists "irst o!ting as his "amo!s persona to a photoshoot in *+,at the .ondon /aller% on Cork Street# Stephanie DAlessandro, the c!rator o" modern art at the Art 0nstit!te o" Chicago, ho rote the "inal chapter o" Magritte1 The M%ster% o" the 2rdinar%, said that altho!gh the roots o"

S!rrealism ere in continental '!rope, Magritte developed his most important ideas hile in .ondon in the late *+,3s# &is "irst big commission philanthropist# as b% 'd ard James, a $ritish artist, poet and

4James invited him to come to .ondon in *+,5 to do three orks that are larger than an% hed done be"ore,6 she said# James had previo!sl% been collaborating ith Dal, so Magritte arrived to "ind a 4total S!rrealist environment in all its bold and marvello!s theatricalit%6# Magritte created three large7scale paintings that ere displa%ed behind t o7 a% mirrors that o!ld become transparent hen ill!minated "rom behind# 40t as a atershed moment "or him# 0t as the last vestige "or him to move to a kind o" painting here e are "!ll% p!lled into this magical space,6 Dr DAlessandro said# The paintings incl!ded .a Je!nesse ill!stre, a landscape ith a parade o" o!t7o"7place ob8ects, s!ch as a t!ba and the 9en!s de Milo# Magritte ret!rned to .ondon the ne:t %ear to p!blicise an e:hibition# 2ne pict!re sho s him posing in a bo ler hat beside .e $arbare, a depiction o" a per"ormer in a top hat that has since been lost# Altho!gh Magritte had painted his "irst men in bo ler hats in *+;5, this as the "irst time that he ore one, Dr DAlessandro said# 4<e believe that this is the moment that Magritte becomes associated "!ll% ith his art = he becomes part o" his art# 0" %o! look at photographs o" Magritte "rom>the *+?3s, he is al a%s in his hat# 0ts the same a% as And% <arhol al a%s ears his ig#6 She said there as a likelihood that the hat as a prop made in 'ngland rather than something that he bro!ght ith him "rom $elgi!m#