René Magritte

Patricia Allmer is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the University of Edinburgh

René Magritte: Beyond painting 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 analyse 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 encyclopaedias, 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 book 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.

List of platesList of figuresAcknowledgements1. Retheorising Magritte2. Cabinets of curiosities3. Forging the past and the present4. Elective affinities - Between words and images5. Dialogues entirely painted by hand6. Framing the real7. Artistic identity reproduced8. Coda - After MagritteList of abbreviationsBibliographyIndex