René Magritte retrospective at Centre Pompidou explores representation and philosophy

The Centre Pompidou in Paris presents 'René Magritte – La trahison des images', a major exhibition of around 100 works by the Belgian surrealist (1898–1967), drawn from public and private collections, alongside autograph documents, drawings, sketches, and gouaches. Curated by Didier Ottinger, the show is organized thematically rather than chronologically, juxtaposing Magritte's paintings with works by modern and old masters such as Nicolas Poussin, Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1785), Michiel Coxcie (16th century), Juan de Zurbarán (1639–40), and Angelika Kauffmann (1778). These pairings highlight affinities in themes like idolatry, masochism, sublimation, fetishism, competitiveness, and perfectionism, linking Pliny the Elder, Plato, and the Bible to Magritte's visual puzzles. The exhibition also covers Magritte's eccentric character—described by critic Robert Hughes as someone who 'could very well have been a salami seller'—his chess games at Café Le Greenwich in Brussels, and his philosophical influences (Poe, Stevenson, Hegel, Heidegger, Husserl, Plato). It explores his approach to painting as solving 'problems' of representation and perception, his 'période vache' (1948) with garish colors and comic-like imagery, and his 'Renoir period' (1943–1946) inspired by Impressionist palettes during the Nazi occupation. The show runs until 23 January 2017 at the Centre Pompidou.