Movie Scenes Staged as Famous Paintings: Magritte, Hopper, Escher
A DailyArt Magazine article explores how filmmakers have drawn inspiration from iconic paintings by René Magritte, Edward Hopper, and M. C. Escher. Magritte's surreal works appear in The Exorcist (The Empire of Light), Moonlight (The Evening Gown), The Truman Show (Architecture in the Moonlight), and Trainspotting (The Mysteries of the Horizon). Hopper's realist paintings influenced Psycho (House by the Railroad), Deep Red (The Nighthawks), and Rear Window (Night Windows and Room in New York). The film Shirley: Visions of Reality by Gustav Deutsch recreates 13 Hopper paintings. Escher's impossible geometries appear in Inception (Ascending and Descending), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Ascending and Descending), Labyrinth (Relativity), and Suspiria (Sky and Water I and Belvedere). A brief reference to Beauty and the Beast notes a possible homage to Escher's Eye.
Key facts
- Magritte's The Empire of Light appears in The Exorcist (1973).
- Magritte's The Evening Gown inspired a scene in Moonlight (2016).
- Magritte's Architecture in the Moonlight influenced The Truman Show (1998).
- Magritte's The Mysteries of the Horizon inspired Trainspotting (1996).
- Hopper's House by the Railroad was used for Norman Bates' home in Psycho (1960).
- Hopper's Nighthawks was recreated as the Blue Bar in Deep Red (1975).
- Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) references Hopper's Night Windows and Room in New York.
- Escher's Ascending and Descending appears in Inception (2010) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001).
- Escher's Relativity appears in Labyrinth (1986) and Suspiria (1977).
- Escher's Sky and Water I and Belvedere appear in Suspiria (1977).
Entities
Artists
- René Magritte
- Edward Hopper
- M. C. Escher
- Gustav Deutsch
- Giorgio de Chirico
- Ricciotto Canudo
Institutions
- DailyArt Magazine
- Peggy Guggenheim Collection
- Museum of Modern Art
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Sheldon Museum of Art
- National Gallery of Canada
- National Gallery of Art
- Universal Studios
- Venice Film Festival
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- New York
- NY
- USA
- Chicago
- IL
- Lincoln
- NE
- Ottawa
- Canada
- Washington
- DC
- Hollywood
- Turin
- Rome
- CLN Square