Magritte on Practice
Originating from a close collaboration between the RMFAB and the CEA, this research includes the systematic study of the largest collection of painted works by the artist in the world, that of the Magritte Museum in Brussels, on the basis of an extensive arsenal of physico-chemical analysis techniques and non-invasive scientific imaging. Started in 2016, this large-scale project seeks to shed new light on René Magritte's painting oeuvre, based on the study of its materiality.
Magritte on practice is the first comprehensive material and technical studies devoted to Magritte’s painted production. The research axes developed are:
- Evolution of the artist’s painting materials and techniques throughout his career
- Discovery of hidden compositions from reused painting supports
- Conservation issues, including the speckles syndrome
This serial and multi-analytical study focused on fifty oil paintings executed by the artist between 1920 and 1967. Amongst them, forty-five belong to the RMFAB collection. The five remaining ones come from different private collections. All of them are currently housed by the Magritte museum and have been investigated by non-invasive and complementary scientific methods on the RMFAB site thanks to the portability of the instrumentation available at the CEA.
The main results have been published in several papers and in the book Artists’ Materials : René Magritte (Getty publications).
Morer info can be found at : https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_9544824/fr/magritte-le-mystere-devoile
Contacts
Catherine Defeyt, David Strivay
