René Magritte: Beyond Painting

René Magritte offers a rethinking of Magritte's art from a position informed by contemporary developments in art theory.

The book employs a wide range of literary and philosophical/cultural theoretical frameworks to analyze Magritte's art. It offers close readings of specific images, paying attention to neglected aspects of Magritte's work, discussing the significance of cabinets of curiosities and encyclopedias, trompe l'oeil, framing and forgeries. It addresses a range of intertextual relations between Magritte's work and that of other Surrealist artists and the art-historical tradition.

This highly readable text explores how Magritte's art challenges conventional notions of originality, canonicity and coherence, revealing his work as being shaped by co-operations and co-options. It demonstrates that uncertainty, incoherence and negation lie at the core of Magritte's oeuvre.