The natural graces 1963

René Magritte painted “The Natural Graces,” dimensions 55 x 40 cm, with oil on canvas, sometime in the mid-20th century. Just look at the way these birds and leaves have become each other! Magritte takes the idea of process seriously, and I get the feeling that he’s enjoying himself as he works through the composition. The surface of the painting is smooth and dream-like, but it’s easy to see how the paint has been applied in delicate strokes to create these forms. The birds and leaves have a subtle tactility that draws me in, and I can almost feel the textures as I look closely. See how the negative spaces between the leaves are just as important as the leaves themselves, creating a complex visual rhythm that’s both calming and intriguing? This idea of transformation and blurring the lines between nature and artifice is a key theme in his work. I'm reminded of Phillip Guston, a painter with a completely different style but a similar desire to push the boundaries of what painting can be.