Customer Reviews (1)

Soulful and Mysterious and Wry
In 1965 Michals -- to his amazement -- was afforded the opportunity to spend time with, and to photograph, Magritte, his wife Georgette, their dog, and his paintings in their home on Rue Mimosas (a street name so rich that it sounds artificial) in Brussels. 18 months later, Magritte would be dead, passing away in the house in which he lived and worked.

This small book features about 60 color and b&w photographs that memorialize Michals' visit with Magritte. Typically, Michals introduces a subtle narrative in his ordering of the photographs. We travel to Magritte with him, enter, go in deeper, go in yet even deeper, and then leave. This is a very quiet book.

As with much of Michals' work, the photographs here are mysterious, tinged with the numinous, and exquisitely well-observed. Magritte, ever wry, is featured in a number of portraits in suit with bowler hat. And for every image that seems to function like a Magritte canvas (odd framing/incidental detail/a celebration of the borgeouis/shattered viewer expectations) there is an image which seems quite direct and even a bit documentary.

I am particularly taken by the care that has gone into the making of this book as an object. The size, the varied size of the photographs, and the limited inclusion of text are to be applauded.

This is a book about spirit. A book about the distance felt by a young photographer upon meeting an artistic heavyweight. A book about how this distance is traversed as two artistic spirits coexist in a short time in the same space. ... Read more

Product Description
A picture of a pipe is not really a pipe, and a daylight-filled sky can shine over a streetlamp-lit townhouse, and a painting of a window inside a painting of a sitting room can be the window in that sitting room, and a room-sized rock can gaze out of that room at the sea, and, of course, a man is a suit can have a green apple for a face. At least, that is, in the world of Magritte. And who wouldn't want to believe in that world, or at least take pleasure in the ability to recognize parts of it in our own? One of the most charming and beloved of the surrealists, René Magritte took a light, witty paintbrush and created a world both familiar and not--but always recognizable in our dreams. His plays on semiotics, identity, the idea of woman, the possibilities inherent in objects, and the idea that everything was not necessarily what it seemed--or what it was supposed to be--are celebrated here in an intelligent retrospective monograph, featuring more than 150 paintings, sculptures, objects, and works on paper. The organization of this catalogue paints Magritte as an innovator, and an artist who has had significant influence on contemporary creators. Accompanying essays, including an introduction by Alain Robbe-Grillet, inventor of the nouveau roman, consider Magritte's influence on modern and contemporary art. Magritte's relationships with his surrealist contemporaries Louis Scutenaire and André Breton, and the art dealers Edward James and Alexandre Iolas, are each revealed through individual art historical texts and a selection of unpublished letters. An illustrated chronology is included as well. This catalogue is published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris.
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. --René Magritte

Essays by Jean Roudaut, Patrick Roegiers, Daniel Abadie, Jean-Michel Goutier, Bernard Noël, Sarah Whitefeld and Renilde Hammacher.
Introduction Alain Robbe-Grillet.

Hardcover, 8.5 x 10.5 in., 272 pages, 220 color & 30 b/willustrationsAmazon.com Review
This installation of the Modern Master series surveys the workof Rene Magritte, one of the most enigmatic artists of the 20thcentury and an important figure in the surrealist movement. Hecombined the commonplace with the fantastic to become the master of"magic realism." Cloud-filled skies, bowler-hatted men, andoversized household objects are in abundance in the more than 60full-color reproductions included in this volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Is this not a pipe?
The catalogue for a comprehensive exhibition at the Jeu de Paume in Paris held in 2003, this book is a very good, well-documented, well-illustrated study of this ubiquitous Belgian artist who has inspired so many contemporary artists and publicists. There is quite a lot of material available on Magritte and I would say this one is one of the safest bets. Daniel Abadie is a leading French modern art historian and curator and his signature is a token of quality. ... Read more

Product Description
The artist's most unforgettable images come together in an exquisite study of his life and work. This comprehensive and provocative monograph traces the influences on Magritte's art while 400 illustrations show the full range of his work. Not only the well-known paintings but also lesser-known murals, photographs, sculptures, and commercial works are represented. 400 illustrations, 110 in full-color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent book on the artist Magritte
Again,Taschen has done itself proud,the collection of magritte's imagery and reproductions are wonderful.Any art student would be happy with this book.Magritte is very mysterious,I used to think...after looking through my copy of this book,I now think Magritte is clear visioned and not mysterious at all.He just paints his point of veiw,and his veiw fascinates me.
I am very happy with this purchase.If you want a great addition to your personal library,for whatever purpose,be you an artist or lover of art,this is the book to have.

More large (good quality) pictures would have been better
In my opinion, the most important thing about a book about a pictorial artist is (usually) the actual pictures shown(including the quality of the reproductions), and I feel in this respect this book falls rather flat. Not only are there not enough large (full or half page) pictures for a book of this size (216 pages) - some of them are poor quality reproductions (a painfully common feature of art books) - why do paintings vary so much between different reproductions?

Instead the book is mainly concerned with excessively wordy discourses on Magritte and his work. I'm not saying I didn't find any of it interesting, but the information and insight I gleaned after 8 hours of reading could have been put over with half as much text. I don't have a problem with writers indulging in intellectual analysis, so long as it is concise and well written, and this wasn't always the case.

Incidentally, Magritte by Richard Calvocoressi (Phaidon - April 1993) is much shorter but has much better pictures in it.

(review altered 27 May 2005, partly to remove British slang words that may have caused confusion)

More for your money
As the description above states, this book contains 400 illustrations covering Magritte's entire career. I found that after reading "The Essential Magritte," this was a perfect continuation in my introduction to this man's work. The price is also unbeatable, considering what some art books go for these days. Well written and illustrated, this book was a wonderful find.

Absolutely amazing
This book on Margritte includes fabulous images and great explanations andreferences to Magritte's life. I purchased this book in Dutch in Europe,for about four times the price listed here. This is an absolute bargain,and I sincerely regret not having purchased it from Amazon, although Igreatly enjoyed having purchased it overall. Any Magritte fan cannot missthis book! Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
The sublime visions of Surrealist master René Magritte often began in a viewfinder. In this major study, the first of its kind, noted photography critic, author, and Magritte scholar Patrick Roegiers draws eye-opening connections between the artist's enduring paintings and his use of the emerging medium of photography, which he used as a hobby, as well as a serious component of his painting, and as an art in itself.Examining more than 200 previously unpublished photographs from Magritte's personal collection, Roegiers finds both important source material and illuminating biographical revelations. We see here pictures of friends--including the Belgian Surrealists Scutenaire, Nougé, and Mesens--and acquaintances, whom Magritte sometimes shot in stage-managed tableaux. We glimpse his family and especially his wife, muse, and model Georgette, posing whimsically and earnestly, as they decamp for Paris in 1927 and return to Brussels three years later. And perhaps most vitally important to understanding Magritte's work, his self-portraiture through photography provides crucial insight into the creation of his bowler-hatted icon and paintings such as La Clairvoyance, from 1936. A photograph of this last work shows the artist at the easel of the famous painting of himself painting a bird. Later in life, as Magritte's fame grew, he himself was also a subject of other photographers' pictures, including photographs by Duane Michals on Magritte's first trip to the United States in 1965 and by Adelaide de Menil in Texas, in which the artist amusingly trades his bowler for a Stetson.This clear-eyed, all-encompassing look at what Magritte saw through the camera, and what he did in front of it, adds substantially to our appreciation of the artist who gave us the eye of "Le Faux Miroir."Edited and with Essay by Patrick Roegiers.Hardcover, 8.75 x 10.5 in./168 pgs / 125 b&w and 125 duotones. ... Read more