Secret Life IV

The 1928 painting, The Secret Life IV by Rene Magritte is one of the best examples of how he embedded himself into the culture of surrealism.

The bold piece, which depicts a solitary sphere has been speculated to represent isolation by many art critics.

Magritte was well known for juxtaposing the boldness of his shapes with the more demure colours he uses, of which The Secret Life IV is a classic example of.

Rather than rely on outlandish colours to accentuate the striking shape that is the main focus of the painting, he uses shade and light with very dark undertones to make the focus of the sphere that much more prominent.

The idea of the painting is to challenge the observers preconceptions of reality, and it does just this.

Channelling a different style from his impressionistic works that he painted circa 1915 when he first started his career, this painting clearly depicts the evolution in his work. At this point, Magritte kept to his style of surrealism which bought him a large amount of success.

Rene Magritte, the Belgian surrealist, was well known for his thought provoking, and more often than not witty art work.

His style often lent itself to making everyday objects seem completely out of the ordinary, which gained him a dedicated following and also made him a big influencer of minimalist, pop, and conceptual art.

Magritte is often credited with influencing very prominent artists such as Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.

For someone who influenced art so bold and bright as Andy Warhols, it can be hard to understand why some of Magritte's paintings are so dark. This could all be a result of his personal life, which was turbulent from a very young age.

Magritte's Mother committed suicide by drowning herself in a nearby river in 1912. This affected him greatly, and a lot of the sorrow is seen in his works.

Not only did this awful situation befall Magritte, but he was also present when his Mothers body was found. This situation challenged him for a lot of his later life, and had a detrimental effect on many of his future relationships, and a distinct impression on his painting style.