Veristic Surrealism

Veristic Surrealism


Some background on Veristic Surrealism

- Veristic Surrealists allowed the images of the subconscious to be undisturbed so that meaning could be understood through analysis.
- They linked images between the abstract spiritual realities and the real forms of the world.
- For them, their paintings were a metaphor to inner reality.
- Veristic surrealists hoped to follow images of the subconscious until consciousness could understand the meaning.
- The expression of the subconscious is the image and the consciousness had to decode the image and translate it into the language of its own.
- Thus paintings of the Veristic Surrealists portrayed people and objects which looked close to reality, although were represented in quite strange ways.

Information from: http://www.artsz.org/veristic-surrealism-dali-magritte-max-ernst/

Veristic surrealism has a marked difference from other types of surrealism whereby the artiste has already interpreted the work. Unlike other forms of surrealism, veristic surrealism allows the viewer to imagine the story on his or her own, and to glimpse the inner world of the artist.

The Belgian Rene Magritte had a good ability to paint ordinary objects in unusual contexts giving new meanings to familiar things.

The above painting "The Son of Man" was by Rene Magritte in 1964.

What we see in the first instance is a fruit covering a man's face.

Magritte has used the fruit out of context in this case by allowing it to appear infront of a man's portrait or seemingly, growing out of the man's face. This leaves much room for interpretation by the viewer.

Personally, I interpret it as that human beings often put on a very 'nice front'. The fruit in this picture looks very fresh and suggest perfection. However, unknown to many is what lies behind the fruit. What if the man behind is smirking or crying? We will not know unless we look beyong that seemingly perfect cover in front of his face.

Humans are difficult to understand. Emotions varies and changes constantly. Unless you can read into a person's mind, you will never know and comprehand what he is thinking.