Author Description

In a groundbreaking analysis, Silvano Levy unravels the hidden structures of Magritte's paintings. Decoding Magritte puts forward the theory that aphasia, the injury-induced inability to produce and comprehend language, is the elusive key to an underlying artistic mechanism. Magritte had often hinted that there was a covert rationale behind his production, but never gave explanations. Drawing on his conversations with the artist's widow and key members of the Belgian surrealist group, Silvano Levy deciphers Magritte's oeuvre in a meticulous study that rests on linguistics and structuralist theory. This investigation first probes Magritte's early career within the avant-garde, Cubism and Dada, and then systematically sets out the artist s pictorial deconstruction of the pictorial schema. The inclusion of previously unavailable source material in the form of photographs and substantial interviews with Georgette Magritte, Louis Scutenaire, Irène Hamoir, Marcel Mariën and George Melly provides valuable primary resources, as well as shedding additional light on the 'Magritte code'. Contents: Acknowledgements; To Decode or not to Decode; Rebel in the Making 1919-1924; Rebel Artist; Pure Art and Abstraction; Vile Paintings; Dada; Cubism; The Spark; The Rebellion 1924-1930; Unlocking the Code; Crumbling Space; Shattering Anatomy; Elastic Form; Fragmentation; Pictorial Primaries; Vague Things; Pictorial Negation; Beyond Representation; Decoding; Interviews by Silvano Levy; Georgette Magritte; Louis Scutenaire & Irène Hamoir; Marcel Mariën, first interview; Marcel Mariën, second interview; George Melly; René Magritte, letter to Pierre-Louis Flouquet; Illustrations; Bibliography; Index.