The Surreal

Rene Magritte, The Lovers.

In high school I saw this painting and was inspired to write a poem. What do you think of the painting?

Merriam Webster dictionary definition of Surrealism: the principles, ideals, or practice of producing fantastic or incongruous imagery or effects in art, literature, film, or theater by means of unnatural or irrational juxtapositions and combinations

Below is The Empire of Lights also by the French Surrealist, Rene Magritte. Do you notice anything irrational or unnatural? Click on the painting for a full view.


Below is the surrealist painting, Persistence of Time by Salvador Dali. Have you seen this painting before? Click on it for the full painting. It looks like a scene Gregor Samsa might wake up to, if he hadn't already turned into a bug!

The work of Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist, has often been described as surreal or dream-like. Here is her painting What the Water Gave Me. You decide.


Also by Kahlo, The Two Fridas. Click on image for full painting.

The Violence of Grace

Caravaggio, The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus (Click on image for full painting)

On his way to Damascus, Saul is knocked from his horse, blinded for 3 days in a violent moment of conversion captured here by Caravaggio, an Italian artist between 1593 and 1610, considered the first great representative of the Baroque school of painting. This is Flannery O'Connor's grandmother, hat knocked off to one side, legs askew, sitting on the dusty road. Some vacation!

Here is another painting by Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. Notice how the sword of death is coming, as Matthew reaches to the angel's extended hand. Again, click the image, for the full painting.