René Magritte. The artist's materials
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René Magritte. The artist's material" is the culmination of the Magritte on Practice project - supported by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (MRBAB) and the European Centre for Archaeometry (CEA) at the University of Liège - which systematically studied some fifty works by the Belgian artist produced between 1921 and 1967 and belonging to the Magritte collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (MRBAB).
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he Belgian artist René Magritte (1898-1967) was one of the most famous Surrealist painters of the 20th century and a renowned representative of the Surrealist movement. He is best known for twisting conventional wisdom, often placing domestic or everyday objects in unusual contexts. His works can be found in museum collections around the world. While much has been written about his practices, artistic community and importance in the history of modernism, little is known about his artistic approach.
René Magritte: The Artist's Materials is the culmination of the Magritte on Practice project (2016-19), a research project led by Catherine Defeyt, a researcher at the Art, Archaeology and Heritage (AAP) research unit of the University of Liège and at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels (RMFAB), and Francisca Vandepitte, senior curator of modern art at the RMFAB. As part of this project, the scientific team systematically studied the most important collection of paintings by René Magritte. "This technical study of René Magritte's works, using non-invasive scientific imaging and chemical analysis, reveals the materials used by the artist to paint," explains Catherine Defeyt, - as well as the origins and degradation mechanisms of the surface and pigments. Of interest to restorers, scientists, curators and lovers of twentieth-century art, this book broadens our understanding of the artist Magritte. It provides new and useful results that will help develop strategies for the future care of his work.
David Strivay, director of the CEA at ULiège, also took part in the project, which involved analysing almost fifty oil paintings by Magritte produced between 1921 and 1967, largely from the collection of the Royal Museums. The chapter on conservation and the appendices provide all the technical and compositional information needed to draw well-founded conclusions about the history of art, the history of technical art and conservation issues in Magritte's work.
René Magritte. The artist's material is the tenth volume in the series published by the Getty Conservation Institute. The series is part of the Getty Conservation Institute's modern and contemporary art research initiative.
