Sheherazade, 1950

Title

Sheherazade, 1950

Subject

Description

Of the novels we read from the 20th Century in Europe, the most surrealist of them was Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. This painting of Magritte's reminded me of the book because of how fragmented an identity can become. First, Annette is a piece of her mother, then a piece of the convent in which she resides, then a piece of her marriage, then a piece of Rochester's English manor. Annette, though telling her story through the words of Rhys, is constantly in fragments of her own identity. She is always missing something that makes her uniquely herself. 

Annette's mother was known for her undying beauty, which is also something addressed in Magritte's painting. Just as Annette was reduced to being a piece of something else, so was her mother. Her mother was only able to be viewed as an object, like this painting of Magritte's implies, which makes Annette's identity even mroe fragmented.

Creator

René Magritte

Source

http://www.mattesonart.com/Data/Sites/1/magritte/Sheherazade%201950.jpg

Publisher

Matteson Art

Date

1950

Format

oil on canvas

Original Format

oil on canvas

Collection

Citation

René Magritte, “Sheherazade, 1950,” Surrealism in 20th Century Britain, accessed March 29, 2024, https://atimeline.omeka.net/items/show/8.

Output Formats