Matteson Art

Quotes by Magritte

Hi,
 
Here are a few quotes by Magritte that give some insight into his character:

Between ourselves it's terrible what one lays one self open to when drawing an innocent picture.

I make use of painting to render thoughts visible.

Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see.
Commenting on his self-portrait, The Son of Man

My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question: "What does that mean?". It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.

People who look for symbolic meanings [in my work] fail to grasp the inherent poetry and mystery of the image. The image must be seen such as they are. Moreover, my paintings imply no supremacy of the invisible over the visible.

Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist.

I detest my past, and anyone else's. I detest resignation, patience, professional heroism and obligatory beautiful feelings. I also detest the decorative arts, folklore, advertising, voices making announcements, aerodynamism, boy scouts, the smell of mothballs, events of the moment and drunken people.

The void is the only mystery left for man.

The present reeks of mediocrity and the atom bomb.