My Favorite Painters – Magritte

by Paulo Coelho on March 17, 2009

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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }

Lucrecia January 24, 2010 at 8:13 pm

I think his paintings are a little bit awkward, because of the somewhat gloomy colours he uses. There is a museum about Magritte in Brussels, that is interesting enough to visit it and see the collection. Maybe he lived in Brussels, I never knew he was from Belgium untill that visit, the museum was not so far from the house of a friend who then lived in Brussels, so that’s why we went. I have to say after that visit I lost my interest in Magritte, maybe because there was so much of his work.

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Savita Vega May 25, 2009 at 7:54 am

Maybe this is the essential human dilemma: no matter which way we twist or turn, or how hard we try, we can never really see ourselves face-to-face, as we truly are. We are always looking at ourselves from some other angle, never really able to look ourselves straight in the eye.

And the mirror – what is this mirror in which we see ourselves reflected, but never straight-on, always and forever only from the side, from the back, from below or above? This mirror is the other human beings with whom we interact – friends, family, lovers, children, coworkers, strangers – who reflect back to us, in various ways, certain images of ourselves.

The thing is, it is never just one image, as there are so many mirrors – the effect is that of being in a fun-house hall-of-mirrors, where our own image is reflected back to us from so many different angles all at once that we become unable to distinguish which image is solid and real and which is merely illusory. We reach out our hand to touch our own face in one of these mirrors and instead of pressing a hand flat against a plate of glass, we push through empty air into another space. And then, of course, many of these mirrors are warped, so that they reveal us to be tall or short, thin or fat, or otherwise portray us as some vague and terrifying shape, stretched all out of proportion, resembling nothing remotely human in form.

It is no wonder that mirrors, since ancient times, have been regarded as having magical properties – the ability to capture and even imprison the human soul, the capacity to transport us to OtherWorlds, or to act as a portal through which entities from both realms can pass freely back and forth.

“'Oh, Kitty, how nice it would be if only we could get through into Looking-glass House!'” declares Alice in the first chapter of Lewis Carroll's famous tale. “'Let's pretend there's a way of getting through into it, somehow, Kitty. Let's pretend the glass has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get through. Why, it's turning into a sort of mist now, I declare! It'll be easy enough to get through–'…. In another moment Alice was through the glass, and had jumped lightly down into the Looking-glass room…. Then she began looking all about, and noticed that what could be seen from the old room was quite common and uninteresting, but all the rest was as different as possible.”

Lewis Carroll himself had an obsession with mirrors; he also suffered from migraines. And as a result of this, some theorize that he might have also suffered from Mirror Agnosia (nowdays also known as “Looking-glass Syndrome) – a condition, either temporary or permanent, in which an individual is rendered incapable of distinguishing between the real objects reflected in a mirror and the reflections themselves. Such a person will, under certain circumstances, actually reach out and attempt to grasp at the reflection, thinking that it is the real object. Being completely unable to comprehend that reflection is not real, and yet being unable to capture it in their hands, they may even get up and, if possible, peer behind the mirror in search of the object they are attempting to grasp.

To suffer from Mirror Agnosia must be a horrid affair, and yet I find the description of the condition quite poignant as a metaphor for the way we humans often relate to one another. We see ourselves reflected in the image presented to us by those whom we love. As a result, we reach out to grasp at that reflection, as though it were our real self, and yet, unable to grasp it, we grow frantic. We begin to knock repeatedly, almost obsessively, against the pane of glass in an attempt to get at it. And when that does not work, we rattle the mirror, hoping the object (the self we seek) will magically drop out at our feet. And when even this fails, we knock the mirror aside and begin to search frantically behind it – determined to find ourselves.

Milan Kundera, in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” states the following in regards to our need to see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others:

“We all need somebody to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under. The first category longs for the look of an infinite number of anonymous eyes, in other words, for the look of the public….The second category is made up of people who have a vital need to be looked at by many known eyes. They are the tireless hosts of cocktail parties and dinners….Then there is the third category, the category of people who need to be constantly before the eyes of the person they love. Their situation is as dangerous as the situation of people in the first category. One day the eyes of their beloved will close, and the room will go dark….And finally there is the fourth category, the rarest, the category of people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers.”

May we all be “dreamers” – ever able to create and recreate the mirrors in which we seek our own self-worth and, by extension, our own personal destiny.

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Marie-christine January 24, 2010 at 12:55 pm

That’s why you need a mirror!
Xx

THELMA January 24, 2010 at 5:17 pm

That’s why I am a …. DREAMER!! ;-]
LOVE,
Thelma xxx

Marta From Brazil March 29, 2009 at 7:50 am

Atma Namaste to all!

”Por tanto amor, por tanta emoção
A vida me fez assim
Doce ou atroz, manso ou feroz
Eu, caçador de mim
Preso a canções
Entregue a paixões
Que nunca tiveram fim
Vou me encontrar longe do meu lugar
Eu, caçador de mim

Nada a temer
Senão o correr da luta
Nada a fazer
Senão esquecer o medo
Abrir o peito à força
Numa procura
Fugir às armadilhas da mata escura

Longe se vai sonhando demais
Mas onde se chega assim
Vou descobrir o que me faz sentir
Eu, caçador de mim

Nada a temer
Senão o correr da luta
Nada a fazer
Senão esquecer o medo
Abrir o peito à força
Numa procura
Fugir às armadilhas da mata escura

Longe se vai sonhando demais
Mas onde se chega assim
Vou descobrir o que me faz sentir
Eu, caçador de mim!”

‘Caçador de Mim’ (Hunter of Myself), a wonderful brazilian song, from the authors Luís Carlos Sá and Sérgio Magrão, in the strong and beautiful voice of Milton Nascimento! The link for the song is here, check it out! I hope you like it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIuS_lzb5b8

Beijo, Paulo!
Kiss, everyone!

Marta

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Pandora March 18, 2009 at 11:39 am

It is interesting the mirror image, the opposite, when we stand directly in front of someone their right is facing our left.

But normally in a mirror we see the opposite, our left is shown as our left, hence possibly the distrust in the illusion of the mirror.

The retina in the eyes ‘see’ everything upside down, but it is our brains that change the image, the brain is mighty. We use only a fraction. I wonder sometimes at this.

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Tania March 18, 2009 at 10:36 am

The duality of being.
The seduction of being ‘me’ i.e. me at the expense of the world.

Reply

andrea March 18, 2009 at 10:11 am

I did not known this painting it is very interesting!

Reply

Dasha Balashova March 18, 2009 at 6:27 am

Magritte is superior !
Adore him.

Reply

orly March 18, 2009 at 1:34 am

a real powerful work,,,makes me feel a bit of a drama….no face…. mistery……and still so special!

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Hicham March 17, 2009 at 10:55 pm

I liked it however are we crossing to the other side or discovering the other side or running from our side :)

Reply

Irina Black March 17, 2009 at 8:46 pm

Lifemystery.To know yourself-to know the world.

Reply

T.K. March 17, 2009 at 5:17 pm

Delusional!

Reply

munrocea March 17, 2009 at 5:16 pm

SAvita
i like and agree alot with what you wrote in your first paragraph…
but then, what i have been trying to work out is what my office accountant’s catchphrase [perhaps to me only - i dont know!] means..
“ok see you tomorrow;
so we shall see ourselves”…

he’s an enthusiastic lover of christianity, but muslim..
so im assuming its an interpretation of ‘being as gods children’ [in my interpretation anyhow]…

Reply

Nancy March 17, 2009 at 5:00 pm

A cool painting. It plays with your logic.

Reply

candie March 17, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Etrange

Reply

sido March 17, 2009 at 3:56 pm

~~~~ / Spirit of love … Secret door of our hearts / ~~~~

Behind the mirror, there is another world …

in the night, some people perceive and expect that the day stands for all ….

so that even before the mirror, sees that everyone can enter this world of light when the day will be in everyone’s eyes

I await the rising of this day …

and the faith of my love, I send you the spirit of love and energy in order to fill your hearts

http://sido66.blogspot.com/

Reply

THELMA March 17, 2009 at 3:08 pm

René Magritte described his paintings by saying,

My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, “What does that mean?”. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.

I have just copied the painter’s words. So I am not trying to explain the painting!!
LOVE,
Thelma.

Reply

Savita Vega March 17, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Maybe this is the essential human dilemma: no matter which way we twist or turn, or how hard we try, we can never really see ourselves face-to-face, as we truly are. We are always looking at ourselves from some other angle, never really able to look ourselves straight in the eye.

And the mirror – what is this mirror in which we see ourselves reflected, but never straight-on, always and forever only from the side, from the back, from below or above? This mirror is the other human beings with whom we interact – friends, family, lovers, children, coworkers, strangers – who reflect back to us, in various ways, certain images of ourselves.

The thing is, it is never just one image, as there are so many mirrors – the effect is that of being in a fun-house hall-of-mirrors, where our own image is reflected back to us from so many different angles all at once that we become unable to distinguish which image is solid and real and which is merely illusory. We reach out our hand to touch our own face in one of these mirrors and instead of pressing a hand flat against a plate of glass, we push through empty air into another space. And then, of course, many of these mirrors are warped, so that they reveal us to be tall or short, thin or fat, or otherwise portray us as some vague and terrifying shape, stretched all out of proportion, resembling nothing remotely human in form.

It is no wonder that mirrors, since ancient times, have been regarded as having magical properties – the ability to capture and even imprison the human soul, the capacity to transport us to OtherWorlds, or to act as a portal through which entities from both realms can pass freely back and forth.

“‘Oh, Kitty, how nice it would be if only we could get through into Looking-glass House!’” declares Alice in the first chapter of Lewis Carroll’s famous tale. “‘Let’s pretend there’s a way of getting through into it, somehow, Kitty. Let’s pretend the glass has got all soft like gauze, so that we can get through. Why, it’s turning into a sort of mist now, I declare! It’ll be easy enough to get through–’…. In another moment Alice was through the glass, and had jumped lightly down into the Looking-glass room…. Then she began looking all about, and noticed that what could be seen from the old room was quite common and uninteresting, but all the rest was as different as possible.”

Lewis Carroll himself had an obsession with mirrors; he also suffered from migraines. And as a result of this, some theorize that he might have also suffered from Mirror Agnosia (nowdays also known as “Looking-glass Syndrome) – a condition, either temporary or permanent, in which an individual is rendered incapable of distinguishing between the real objects reflected in a mirror and the reflections themselves. Such a person will, under certain circumstances, actually reach out and attempt to grasp at the reflection, thinking that it is the real object. Being completely unable to comprehend that reflection is not real, and yet being unable to capture it in their hands, they may even get up and, if possible, peer behind the mirror in search of the object they are attempting to grasp.

To suffer from Mirror Agnosia must be a horrid affair, and yet I find the description of the condition quite poignant as a metaphor for the way we humans often relate to one another. We see ourselves reflected in the image presented to us by those whom we love. As a result, we reach out to grasp at that reflection, as though it were our real self, and yet, unable to grasp it, we grow frantic. We begin to knock repeatedly, almost obsessively, against the pane of glass in an attempt to get at it. And when that does not work, we rattle the mirror, hoping the object (the self we seek) will magically drop out at our feet. And when even this fails, we knock the mirror aside and begin to search frantically behind it – determined to find ourselves.

Milan Kundera, in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” states the following in regards to our need to see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others:

“We all need somebody to look at us. We can be divided into four categories according to the kind of look we wish to live under. The first category longs for the look of an infinite number of anonymous eyes, in other words, for the look of the public….The second category is made up of people who have a vital need to be looked at by many known eyes. They are the tireless hosts of cocktail parties and dinners….Then there is the third category, the category of people who need to be constantly before the eyes of the person they love. Their situation is as dangerous as the situation of people in the first category. One day the eyes of their beloved will close, and the room will go dark….And finally there is the fourth category, the rarest, the category of people who live in the imaginary eyes of those who are not present. They are the dreamers.”

May we all be “dreamers” – ever able to create and recreate the mirrors in which we seek our own self-worth and, by extension, our own personal destiny.

Reply

Cristina March 17, 2009 at 2:45 pm

see the second, hidden face of truth!
a magical mirror

Reply

nagualero March 17, 2009 at 2:33 pm

he is one of my favorites as well. a master of painting messages

Reply

Marie-Christine March 17, 2009 at 1:02 pm

I like his sense of humour. :)

Reply

sido66 March 17, 2009 at 12:29 pm

I am crossed on the other side of the mirror, to me to advance and to make another step…

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