Questions to
answer about the reading:
1.
What is surrealism?
- Ideas of strange things that happened in dreams.
2.
What motif did Magritte use in many of his
works? Why was this significant?
- A man dressed in a suit wearing a bowler hat.
- Because historians believe that he referred to himself when using the motif.
3.
In his work Golconda,
why is it important that Magritte varied the image of the man in the bowler
hat? How does it add depth to the work?
- So that the painting didn’t become boring. Also, so that it would cause the viewer to look more closely at the painting to try and decipher the differences between each man.
- He varies the sizes in the men. The men in the background are smaller and the men in the foreground are bigger to create depth in the piece.
4.
Why did surreal artists choose to create strange
worlds with their art?
- Because they found that juxtaposing ordinary but unrelated objects could be as disorienting and powerful as waking up from a strange dream.
5.
Explain how the techniques of juxtaposition,
altered scale, and language help Magritte explore Surrealism.
- Juxtaposition is placing two unrelated objects side by side, which helps contribute to the randomness of the art. The idea of altered scale was used to disorient viewers, and language because then the words could be open to interpretation.
6.
What would be a few reasons why Magritte would
cover the faces of his subjects?
- A possible reason why Magritte covered the faces of his subjects could be because of an incident that happened during his childhood, such as how his mother supposedly committed suicide and when she was recovered her face was covered, therefore he uses that to connect his personal life with all of his works.
7.
Why did Magritte strive for realism &
precision in his paintings?
- Because he believed it allowed the viewers to focus on the subject of a work rather than the technique used in paintings.
8.
Google more of Magritte’s work and include 2
images that interest you.
- Explain the technique(s) used to enhance the work
- Hint – review the words in bold from the reading
In the picture above, Rene Magritte uses altered scale to make the fish and the bird look like they are the size of a human man. His mom supposedly committed suicide by drowning herself, therefore I believe he incorporated the fish and bird into the work because 1. fish live in rivers, lakes, etc. so the fish could represent the river that his mom caused suicide in and 2. hawks are known as able hunters with sharp vision, so in the work the bird could represent a hawk that spotted his mom's corpse.
In the picture above, Magritte uses precision to attract the viewers eye to the surrealistic qualities rather than having the viewers attention on wondering what the painting is of. He wanted to make the work seem as life like as he possible could so people would focus on the real reason of why the painting was made.
