René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle review FEATURE

As the largest Magritte exhibition the UK has ever seen, Tate Liverpool's René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle consists of over 100 paintings, 50 sketches, prints and several rare delights. It is an incredibly ambitious project undertaken by the gallery and one that long-time appreciator of Magritte, Lucy Middleton, had to see for herself.

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By Lucy Middleton, BritEvents.com

The staging of the Tate Liverpool Pleasure Principle reveals new dimensions of the inner workings of Magritte; thoughts, emotion and aspects of his personality which poured out from his mind onto the canvas. Organised thematically, Magritte's oeuvre is complimented by the execution of lateral thinking and lack of regimented chronology.

The Surreal Encounter segment at the entrance of the exhibition presents some of the most powerfully haunting pieces created by the hand of Magritte, including The Lovers, The Face of Genius and Man with a Newspaper. This segment, along with The Dominion of Light, are the ultimate demonstration of the artist's aptitude for creating considerable pictoral depth.

The Treachery of Images explores the relationship between imagery and the spoken word and, thought provoking as the section is, due to Tate's absence of french-to-english translations, many of the paintings are literally lost in translation. The language barrier is a minor let down, as the philosophy behind The Treachery of Images series demonstates Magritte's perspicacity at its best.

The Pleasure Principle painting, one of Magritte's better-known works, is based on the Freudian psychoanalytic concept in which people seek pleasure and purposely avoid suffering in order to be satisfied in their lives. Exposed to suffering from a young age, Magritte was just 13 years old when his mother committed suicide and this trauma is felt in many of his pieces. Whether already acquainted with his work, or new to it altogether; it is easy for all to see that Magritte is no stranger to pain.

Magritte was not all doom and gloom though, he was a man of great humour. His bold, dark and often inappropriate wit is a recurrent theme throughout the exhibition and the greatest example of the latter lies, unsurprisingly, behind curtains at the gallery. Cordoned off into their own little room, six incredibly rare illustrations of a crude nature come with their own little warning sign for those faint of heart and innocent of mind. Intended for an edition of the erotic novella Madame Eduarda, the pictures are distinctly tasteless, childish and down-right outrageous. As this is my sense of humour all over I found the pieces entertaining, while some are certain to find them horrific. Either way, as a firm believer that art is deemed so by its ability to conjure emotion and influence mood, these pictures are in their rightful place in the exhibition.

One pleasant surprise this exhibition has on offer is the six colourful works from his post-war Vache period. In French, the word vache means cow and the term is often used to describe a lazy or excessively fat person. Making their debut in a solo exhibition in Paris in 1948, Magritte's Vache paintings were a bold statement made to the Parisian Surrealists with whom he had a tumultuous relationship. With garish colours and technique inspired by Impressionists, the Vache paintings, often crass in subject, were a clear message of Magritte cutting ties with surrealism, at least for a good few years any way. Though they are often overlooked, paintings from the Vache period are an important piece of the mammoth Magritte puzzle.

With just a few sections of René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle touched upon, it is recommended visitors dedicate a full morning or afternoon to acquaint themselves fully with the exhibition. Those passionate about Magritte's art will be far from disappointed by the magnitude of the Tate Liverpool's project and the opportunity to see the prolific artist's iconic work up close and personal.

René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle is at Tate Liverpool until October 16. 11 for entry, concessions available, see Tate Liverpool for more information.

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