Magritte in the sun: his Renoir period at the Musée de l'Orangerie - new dates

Published by Cécile de Sortiraparis · Published on May 5th, 2021 at 09:55 a.m.
An exhibition on Magritte's Renoir period arrives at the Musée de l'Orangerie. This period, from 1941 to 1947, is defined as a cycle during which the painter wished to see life on the bright side, and drew inspiration from the Impressionists in over a hundred works. On view from May 19 to July 19, 2021.

Paris offers a number of fine exhibitions dedicated to the Second World War, and among them, the Musée de l'Orangerie highlights the amusing work of an artist disillusioned by the German occupation: René Magritte, who decided from 1941 to 1947 to represent "the beautiful side of life" in so-called solar paintings, inspired by Impressionists such as Renoir or Seurat, and which came to be known as his"Renoir period".

This beautiful exhibition, entitled Magritte / Renoir. Le surréalisme en plein soleil, is waiting to be discovered from May 19 to July 19, 2021. Online ticketing opens on May 6: as museum capacity is reduced, remember to reserve your place in advance to be sure of being able to admire this exhibition as soon as it opens.

The Musée de l'Orangerie showcases some sixty paintings and forty drawings from the artist's creative period. To better understand the influence of these works, the museum is presenting paintings by Renoir alongside those by other artists, to bring these seemingly distant worlds face to face.

In the exhibition Magritte en plein soleil, Magritte's paintings are set against masterpieces by Renoir, Picabia and other artists, notably Jeff Koons, who was inspired by the Renoir period.

In a letter to Paul Eluard in 1941, Magritte wrote "... the beautiful side of life would be the field I would explore. By this I mean all the traditional paraphernalia of charming things, women, flowers, birds, trees, the atmosphere of happiness, etc. ... it's a rather powerful charm that now replaces in my paintings the disquieting poetry I had once striven to achieve." During this period, Renoir produced around fifty paintings, as many gouaches and a large number of drawings, including La fleur du mal, a tribute to Baudelaire.

For the painter, it was a question of reforming Surrealism: in October 1946, Magritte sent André Breton his Manifesto for a Surrealism in Full Sunlight, which was rejected. After this, the painter decided to embark on a series of grotesque portraits.

Practical information

Dates and Opening Time
From May 19th, 2021 to July 19th, 2021

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    Location

    Jardin Tuileries
    75001 Paris 1

    Accessibility info

    Access
    Metro 1, 8 and 12, Concorde station

    Prices
    -26 ans UE: Free
    Tarif réduit: €6.5
    Tarif normal: €9

    Official website
    www.musee-orsay.fr

    Booking
    billetterie.musee-orangerie.fr

    More information
    Opening hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Tuesdays

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