"Suit Yourself"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

The Belgium artist, Rene Magritte clearly had a sense of humor.

Magritte's earliest paintings date back to 1915 - and like most artists of that time period, he dabbled in different styles, beginning with Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism then Surrealism after becoming involved with a group of surrealists in Paris.  Meanwhile, to earn a living, he ran an advertising agency back in Brussels, continued painting in a more painterly style - even earned a living at one time producing fake Picassos and Braques and believe it or not, forged banknotes during the postwar period. 

The Son of Man was completed in 1964 as a self-portrait.  The hovering, green apple obsures most of his face, as Magritte explained 'Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.  There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us.  This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present'.

The Son of Man has been parodied multiple times in literature, film and artworks - notably a few - Norman Rockwell painted a homage titled Mr. Apple, the Simpsons had Bart behind a floating apple, and the film The Thomas Crown Affair included the painting in several scenes.