6 things to look for in
René Magritte’s Son of Man
6 things to look for in René Magritte’s Son of Man
The Son of Man , 1964, private collection.
The Son of Man , 1964, private collection.
Did you know?
The apple. Obviously, the man’s face is covered by a hovering green apple.
“
At least it hides the face partly well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. 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.
”
- René Magritte
The Son of Man (detail) , 1964, private collection
The eye . If you look closely, you will notice that the man’s eye can be seen peeking over the edge of the apple .
The elbow. Another subtle feature is that the man's left arm appears to bend backwards at the elbow.
The bowler hat. This type of hat is a recurring pictural element in Magritte’s oeuvre. He was fascinated by familiar objects such as hats, pipes, umbrellas, etc.
René Magritte’s work is often depicting ordinary objects in an unusual context, challenging the viewer’s preconditioned perceptions of reality.
The man. The Son of Man is actually a self-portrait of Magritte. Hard to see? At least, this is how Magritte presented the work.
The frame. If you see the frame of this painting, you are very lucky. This means you are standing in the same room as the actual painting which is in a private collection (not on view in a museum). It is only occasionally on public view.
From Our Collection
Charmed by Magritte’s enigmatic Son of Man ? Visit our store and discover our line of art history collectibles inspired by the great Belgian painter.
The Son of Man - Pin
RENÉ MAGRITTE
$10.00 USD
René Magritte - Figurine
RENÉ MAGRITTE
$29.00 USD