Two generations of surrealists at the Wall House

From February 15, the Wall House Territorial Museum will be presenting an exhibition of photographs taken by two Belgian Surrealist artists, René Magritte and Marcel Mariën.

Two generations of Surrealists will take up residence at the Wall House Territorial Museum from February 15 until June 14. The exhibition is devoted to two artists of the Belgian Surrealist movement: René Magritte (1898-1967) and Marcel Mariën (1920-1993). The exhibition will feature some sixty original photographs taken by the two artists. "They will explore the artists' relationship with creation, art history, society and poetry", explains museum director Charles Moreau.
While Surrealism is best known for what happened in Paris in the 20th century, the difference between the behavior of the artists who carried this movement in France and in Belgium is that the latter took themselves much less seriously, and focused on making a mockery of power. In Paris, it was more a question of dynamiting it," points out Charles Moreau. In Belgium, artists were on friendly terms. In Paris, they didn't get along at all! "
The photographs on display cover a period from 1918 to 1990. All the photographs have been loaned to the Wall House by the Rotelé Collection and the Brachot Collection. In addition, the exhibition has received expert advice from Marie Godet, a doctor in art history specializing in Surrealism. She will be in Saint-Barthélemy in March to present the exhibition to the island's schoolchildren.
The exhibition will also feature a film made in 1942 by René Magritte with the help of Paul Rougé. The film is on loan to Wall House from Belgium's Royal Museums of Fine Arts. It should also be noted that, for the first time, the Wall House territorial museum will be publishing a catalog of this exhibition.
Important information concerning this event: the exhibition will be interrupted for six weeks. This is due to the scheduling of several other exhibitions at the museum. The photographs by Magritte and Mariën will not be on view between March 15 and May 10.

Surrealism, a revolutionary movement
Surrealism is a movement that cuts across all artistic fields: visual arts, literature, music, cinema... It is considered a revolutionary movement, which developed over a period of more than forty years. Its origins lie in the Dada movement, which emerged after the First World War (1914-1918). The word "surrealism" was chosen in homage to the poet and writer Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918). This movement uses the theories (a set of ideas) on dreams and the unconscious (that which lies outside real self-knowledge) of Sigmund Freud (neurological physician, inventor of psychoanalysis, 1856-1939). A surrealist work is generally made up of unexpected elements, not necessarily related to one another. Surrealist artists distort objects to create new visual and iconographic approaches through chance. They use a variety of techniques, such as automatic drawing, collage and rubbing, and their themes often include dreams, imagination and extraordinary phenomena. Among the artists who championed this movement are René Magritte, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Chirico and Salvador Dali.