René Magritte’s imaginative and enigmatic world will be brought to life in crystal sculptures, thanks to the initiative of the Magritte Foundation.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the artist’s birth, and Lalique, with its unique and exquisite pieces, ensures that the power of Magritte’s original works lives on in the modern era.
Lalique’s Art collections now boast six pieces that combine Magritte’s surrealist paintings with Lalique’s glassmaking genius.
Creating a Fusion of Surrealism and Glass
For the first time, the works of René Magritte will be transposed into the crystal, offering a new form through which to experience the artist’s unique vision.
Among the Magritte creations that have been transformed into crystal is the gouache titled Le Bain de cristal.
This piece embodies everything that links Magritte’s oeuvre to the world of Lalique. René Lalique and René Magritte shared a restless spirit of inventiveness that was rooted in their desire to innovate, rather than simply doing better than what they had done before.
The Connection between René Lalique and René Magritte
In the early 20th century, René Lalique played a crucial role in the launch of individualized perfume flacons, which sparked a commercial revolution.
Advertising agents began to use fragrances to promote their products, and René Magritte himself benefited from this success in 1946 when he masterminded a series of campaigns advertising men’s perfumes for the MEM brand.
Glass and crystal are recurring motifs in Magritte’s painted works. Crystal glass furnished the answer to the “problem of the cloud,” which had occupied Magritte’s thoughts in 1960.
His painting La corde sensible illustrates this concept: “The cloud which caresses a glass but never fills it, a cloud liberated rather than captured by its closeness to the mountains leads, with the sweet and gentle touch of an amorous hand, to final clarity,” wrote his friend Louis Scutenaire.
Transparency and Luminosity
Magritte’s interest in glass and crystal was not just a matter of form. The artist found two of their properties, particularly fascinating: transparency and luminosity.
Like Magritte’s paintings, glass and crystal possess a transparent quality that makes them no less mysterious. The purity and luminosity of these materials are simultaneously disconcerting and fascinating.
René Magritte exploited this paradox to the fullest, just as René Lalique did before him. Both artists opted for simplified shapes to accentuate the impact of their creations.
René Lalique revolutionized the use of glass in the decorative arts, while Magritte’s aesthetic imbued his paintings with incomparable power.
Conclusion
Magritte x Lalique: A Fusion of Surrealism and Glassmaking Genius showcases the seamless blending of René Magritte’s surrealist paintings and René Lalique’s glassmaking genius.
Lalique’s Art collections now boast six exquisite pieces that offer a unique perspective on Magritte’s oeuvre. René Magritte and René Lalique shared a restless spirit of inventiveness that was rooted in their desire to innovate.
The properties of transparency and luminosity fascinated both artists, and their use of simplified shapes accentuated the impact of their creations. Magritte x Lalique is a testament to the enduring power of these two artists’ imaginations.