René Magritte, The Treachery of Images. Schirn Kunsthalle

René Magritte, a conjurer of enigmatic paintings in an exhibition running until 5 June at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt. An opportunity to visit Frankfurt, the financial capital of Europe and site of some major museums.


With a view to the upcoming spring holiday period, here are some must-see exhibitions if you're visiting Germany, and Frankfurt am Main in particular. Architecture buffs need to treat themselves to a stopover at the DAM where you can take in “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country”, that has been revised and expanded for the museum exhibition, as well as the exhibition on post-war architecture Otto Apel.
After that, we recommend you head to the Schirn Kunsthalle that has begun 2017 with a highly acclaimed international exhibition: “René Magritte, The Treachery of Images”. A truly unique opportunity to give yourself up to the magical power of the emblematic paintings of this Belgian surrealist 50 years after his death. Magritte's paintings are part of our collective vision of art, from “This is not a pipe” through to “The Human Condition” that confront us with the question of what is the reality.
René Magritte's expressive exploration was grounded in his attempts to give paintings the same importance as poetry since words were always ranked higher than “treacherous” images. Driven by his curiosity and his affinity with the great contemporary philosophers like Michel Foucault, Magritte combined masterfully precise painting with conceptual processes. 
This is the first solo show of the Belgian surrealist to be held in Germany for twenty years and it explores his philosophical views in five sections, taking in the relationship between language and visual imagery, between looking and thinking, the legends and myths associated with the invention and definition of painting, all demonstrating his distrust of simple answers.
Magritte's paintings launch you into an enigmatic world of images where nothing is as it seems, so it is in some ways very close to the topical themes of Visual Literacy: you need to know how to interpret his layered images, not dissimilar to what happens now with the web, where every day you have to wade your way through thousands of images and look beyond appearances because they are never as simple and immediate as they appear at first glance.

Christiane Bürklein

René Magritte, The Treachery of Images
10 February to 5 June 2017 
at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Exhibition organised by the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, in cooperation with the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. 
Curator: Didier Ottinger
Find out more: http://www.schirn.de/en/exhibitions/2017/magritte_the_treachery_of_images/
Images: Courtesy of Schirn Kunsthalle – see captions
1) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_Ausstellungsansicht_Norbert_Migulet z_1.jpg 2) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_This_Is_Not_A_Pipe_1935.jpg 3) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_Ausstellungsansicht_Norbert_Migulet z_4.jpg 4) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_Ausstellungsansicht_Norbert_Migulet z_5.jpg 5) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_Ausstellungsansicht_Norbert_Migulet z_9.jpg 6) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_L_Art_de_la_conversation_1950.jpg 7) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_La_Condition_humaine_1935.JPG 8) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_La_lampe_philosophique_1936.jpg 9) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_La_lecture_defendue_1936.jpg 10) Schirn_Presse_Magritte_Les_Memoire_dun_saint_1960.jpg