Ren Magritte

Ren Magritte: Beyond painting offers a rethinking of Magrittes art from a position informed by contemporary developments in art theory. The book employs a wide range of literary and philosophical/cultural theoretical frameworks to analyse Magrittes art. It offers close readings of specific images, paying attention to neglected aspects of Magrittes work, discussing the significance of cabinets of curiosities and encyclopaedias, trompe loeil, framing and forgeries. It addresses a range of intertextual relations between Magrittes work and that of other Surrealist artists and the art-historical tradition. This book explores how Magrittes art challenges conventional notions of originality, canonicity and coherence, revealing his work as being shaped by co-operations and co-options. It demonstrates that uncertainty, incoherence and negation lie at the core of Magrittes oeuvre. -- .