IMAGINING
MAGRITTE
Surrealist René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967) and his painting The Listening
Room are the inspiration for this mixed-media AAYF project.
Students’ preconceived notions of perception and reality will be challenged
while they learn an important lesson in one-point perspective.
Surrealism: Movement in
art and literature from
1924 to 1945 where
artists attempted to give
visual representation to
dreams, fantasies, and the
unconscious mind.
Surrealism emphasized
real objects in unreal
situations, surprise,
contradiction and shock.
René Magritte
(1898-1967) Belgium
Trained as an artist
First painted in the Impressionistic Style
Influenced by Dr. Sigmund Freud, who claimed that people did
things because of what was hidden in the unconscious mind, a part
of your brain that senses or reacts without you knowing.
“The images found in
surrealist works are as
confusing and startling as
those of dreams.”
Inspiration: The Listening Room
Mixed Media: A work of art for which more than one type of
art material is used to create the finished piece.
Collage: An artistic composition made of various materials
(e.g., paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface.
Scale: Relative size, proportion. Used to determine
measurements or dimensions within a design or work of art.
“Everything we see
hides another thing …
There is an interest in
that which is hidden and
which the visible does
not show us.”
– Magritte
Interesting Facts
Magritte’s Museum is as surreal as his work.
Magritte’s work became wildly popular in the psychedelic 60s and
several album covers of the period featured variations of his images.
Magritte’s Bowler Hat Man Painting was “the star” in the major
motion picture, The Thomas Crown Affair.
The Room
One-point perspective: A way to show three-dimensional objects on a
two-dimensional surface. Lines appear to go away from the viewer and
meet at a single point on the horizon known as the vanishing point.
Vanishing point: The single point in a picture where all parallel lines that
run from the viewer to the horizon line appear to come together. The
vanishing point is generally placed at the viewer's eye level.
Creating The Room (DK-2nd)
Use the cardstock
to trace a
rectangle in the
center of their
9x12 horizontally
positioned
watercolor paper.
Use your finger
and touch the
center of the
paper. Draw a dot
there, this is your
vanishing point.
Creating The Room (DK-2nd)
Draw the 4 diagonal lines connecting the corners of the template
rectangle with the 4 corners of the outside of the paper, using the ruler
as a guide.
Use ruler to draw the window on the left-hand wall. Line up ruler with
dot in center of page and create the top and bottom lines of the window.
Then draw two vertical lines creating the sides of the window.
Optional: If the students are
capable, have them use the
same ruler technique to draw
the lines on the floor to create
the checkerboard floor.
Creating The Room (3rd-5th)
Creating The Room (3rd-5th)
Back to All Students
Paint the room using the watercolors. Not necessary to
put much detail on the flat wall in the middle, as it will
be covered with an apple!
Set your painting aside and clean up your watercolors.
Questions for the artists:
1. Is your painting surreal yet?
2. How will you make it Surreal?
3. Is your artwork a collage yet?
Apple Time
Draw an apple almost as big as the
paper.
Color your apple in with the chalk
pastels. Light source is from the left.
Remember the window in your room?
You can choose red or green, but use
the other colors to make it realistic
looking. Whites, pinks for red apple
highlights/whites, yellows for green
apple highlights. Use browns and
blacks to shade the dark areas.
Blow excess chalk into garbage can.
NOT YOUR NEIGHBOR’S DESK!
Cut out your apple and paste it into
your room.
!
Time to Reflect…
How would you explain Surrealism to someone who had never seen it?
Why are these other Magritte paintings considered Surrealism?
DK-1:
What made Magritte’s paintings so surprising?
What kinds of lines did you use?
2-3: How did you make your painting surreal?
Can you tell a short story about what is happening in your picture?
4-5: How did you use perspective and scale in your artwork?
Describe the technique you used to make your apple look three-dimensional?
Learn more about René Magritte
Browse in the adult nonfiction section of the PV Library under 759.9493 MAGRITTE for more
information and pictures of Magritte’s work.
Enjoy these juvenile titles too:
709.04 BOLTON Surrealism by Linda Bolton
709.04 GAFF 20th Century Art 1920 – 1940: Realism and Surrealism by Jackie Gaff
709.04 RAIMONDO Imagine That!: Activities and Adventures in Surrealism by Joyce Raimondo
759.949 WENZEL René Magritte: Now you See It -- Now You Don't by Angela Wenzel
Juvenile Picture Book Dinner at Magritte's by Michael Garland
Websites to Visit:
http://www.biography.com/people/ren%C3%A9-magritte-9395363
http://www.extra-edu.be/Magritte