The 1951 composition Le chant de la violette (Sylvester, no. 735 and 736), Magritte soon turned his attention to the human figure. While initially the petrification paintings focused on inanimate objects, including pieces of fruit and wine bottles (Sylvester, nos. This suspension of thought was, in turn, a source of great mystery, casting an impenetrable silence over his subjects. Blavier, ed., Ren é Magritte: É crits complets, Paris, 2009, p. As the 1950s dawned, however, Magritte became fascinated by the impenetrability of stone, proclaiming that unlike man-made objects, ‘stone does not think’ (quoted in interview with J. In the 1920s he explored this idea through the gradual metamorphosis of objects into wood, focusing on the transformation of the sky or the soft flesh of a woman’s torso into the distinctive pattern, colouring and texture of smooth wooden planks.
Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, transl. ‘The creation of new objects the transformation of known objects the alteration of certain objects’ substance,’ he explained in a 1938 lecture, ‘all these, in sum, were ways of forcing objects finally to become sensational’ (quoted in H. For the artist, subjecting familiar objects and characters to such unexpected, strange transformations was an essential tool in his quest to jolt viewers from their passive acceptance of reality. Petrification had begun to appear in Magritte’s art around 1950-51, as traditional still-life subjects, landscapes and figures were suddenly transformed entirely into stone. Exploring themes of transformation and dislocation, the composition captures the innovative nature of Magritte’s creative vision during this stage of his career, as he began to re-examine and expand upon the familiar topics, motifs and subjects which lay at the very core of his unique brand of Surrealism. This disquieting moment is rendered all the more mysterious by the unexpected surroundings in which they have been found – though dressed like typical city dwellers, the pair appear on a small ledge or pathway high atop a mountain, which offers a spectacular view of the idyllic, untouched landscape below.
Created circa 1954, René Magritte’s delicately coloured gouache Journal intime presents a startling scene in which two men are discovered completely turned to stone, their forms blending into the stark rocky outcrop on which they stand, frozen eternally in a petrified state.
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