Discuss a painting (what?) by René Magritte

[sun of sand]

It takes two to tango. Aren't you the one trying to belittle me as an artsy-fartsy who is bowled over by complex theories?

I responded to your thread with my opinions
After which you told me to get a grip
Apparently because I do not love this painting to the same degree you profess to
It's kind of odd to talk about a painting in a photo site but it's a free world so wtf, I bit.
I guess if I appreciate photography I have to appreciate this painting because it kindasorta relates? OR were you really just trying to show off your expertise at picking these kinda/sorta things out? I don't know. I don't honestly see what there is to talk about regarding the paintings photographic qualities outside of the kinda/sortas you had already pointed out
"so let me get this straight"
Come on ..that's telling me that I was wrong and need to prove to you my point. Why don't you prove to me why it is that I'm wrong? You have the burden if you ask me

 

[Videbaek]

Cheers to the original poster for bringing in painting -- too bad it went that way.

I've never been fond of Magritte. Haven't seen a show devoted to him, I would of course given the opportunity.

Currently reading "A life of Picasso, the triumphant years, 1917 - 1932" by John Richardson. This is the third volume in
a series. For someone truly interested in pictures and their making, it seems to me there can be nothing more essential
to read. The book is full of photographs, of course, and it puts photography where it belongs: useful, even interesting
documentary role, perhaps reaching one of the lower artistic planes on occasion, but a flickering candle compared to
the raging sun of painting. Interestingly, and this I didn't know, Picasso used photography in preparation for some of
his paintings. In 1918, he had a professional photographer named Emile Délétang photograph his first wife Olga and used
the photo very closely as a reference when painting her portrait. I think he saw photography as a very efficient drawing
tool. It would be very interesting to know why he wanted the photograph. I assume he would have made plenty of drawings
as studies. He could draw "more correctly" than any camera lens. Knowing why might be the key to understanding the most valuable
thing about photography. Picasso had the greatest eye in art.

 

[jd callow]

lots of absolutes in that post. I'd say that painting may have a far wider capacity (both good and bad) than photography, but i don't see how photography at its artistic/expressive/creative best is any less than any other medium -- dung sculpture in the right hands can be the highest form of art. It isn't the medium, but the artist.

As for Picasso and the idea that he or anyone is the greatest
From my vantage point and in the same arena as Picasso at his best, I'd take the original: Max Beckmann every time.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Concerning the relevance of painting to a photography site... I think I made my point in my original and subsequent post that it is possible to make a link between this (Magritte's) painting and photography on the basis of their use of light.

I don't think any art has ever developed in isolation, and photography has had a deep, and reciprocal relationship with painting since the 19th century. It's hard to understand painting during the last two centuries without some awareness of what was going on in photography, and vice versa.

I'm not trying to discuss the best brush, or what pigments for autumn skies, but I'm interested in a little bit of cross-media dialogue. Some people here are also painters, and their opinions on photography are very interesting because they can take a different perspective on the medium.

 

[jd callow]

One of the largest influences photography has had on painting, and illustration is the use of perspective distortion as seen in short and long focal length lenses. I do see some cross pollination in lighting, but not that much. Painters, as seen in the OP, can create or enhance to the point of impossibility and photographers are bound to reality. There is certainly differing mindsets. The painter or even artist photographer will approach the meduim and its tools differently than the craftsman photographer. On the extreme is Super Realists and 20th Century Realism which isn't cross pollenated but photography dependent.

I like the image in th OP, but I don't see it as haveing a really strong relationship with photography.

 

[Videbaek]

Too many absolutes in my last post, yes, absolutely. Too big a subject to handle like that. Photography has indeed influenced many painters -- how could it not, it defines the modern age. Personally, I'm now at the point where my interest in photography has almost completely disappeared. Both in looking and making. There just isn't enough in it.

 

[DanielOB]

Colors are just not given to photography.