On Rene Magritte
One of my favorite artists. I’d forgotten how profoundly trauma inspired his paintings. At the age of 14, he saw his mother’s body retreived from the nearby river, a suicide, her nightgown pulled over her head, obscuring her face.
Additionally, every nude female form in his work was based specifically on his own wife, never anyone else. This is obvious when you see pictures of Georgette Magritte in comparison. I only wish I had a full body shot of her, better demonstrating this.
It seems limiting, to only portray a single female form, but speaks volumes of his love for her, now immortal.
On a sidenote, if you see the movie Dellamorte Dellamore / Cemetary Man, there is a steamy scene based on “The Lovers” painting shown at top. I highly recommend it on many levels: Gnaghi (I love him!), absurdism, sensuality, surrealism, gore and humor.