This week we are back in Modern One, this time in the Surrealism: Picturing the Strange Exhibition. Magritte’s painting ‘La Représentation’ crops the lower abdomen of a nude human body. The supple, hairless flesh is rendered with great skill; the body is illuminated with a warm, soft light whilst small areas, like the sitter’s hip and pubis, are cast into a cool grey shadow. However, it is not the painting itself that is the most striking element of the work, but rather its frame. Magritte originally painted this work as a square and framed it as such, but possibly after seeing a pair of portraits by Salvador Dalí framed in this unusual way, the artist decided to cut the piece down and add a frame to reflect the shape of the canvas. This is the only painting by Magritte framed in this way. We can see the joins of the wooden frame in the areas of gilt that have clung to the joined sections, giving the frame a decorative striped appearance.
Usually, we understand frames as a decorative border delineating the artwork from the real world; it doesn’t serve a narrative purpose, like the painting itself. Magritte’s choice to have the frame follow the smooth curves of this person’s hips elevates the status of the frame to part of the work itself, leading to a curious outcome.
The title of this painting, ‘La Représentation’, seeks to explore what the audience believes to be real and what is merely a representation of the real. Here, do we see a woman’s waist, or do we merely see a representation of the idea of a woman’s waist? This is an objective of surrealism: to challenge notions of reality, rationality, and the stability of perception.
Illustration by Amelia Patterson for The Student.
