La Mort des Fantômes

René Magritte

1928 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

The great Surrealist painter of philosophical conundrums was also a prolific photographer who sometimes used his snapshots as studies for paintings. Magritte often acted as "director" in these whimsical or sinister scenes, handing the camera to someone else so he could appear in the image. The mysterious figure seen here looming over a recumbent woman is Magritte, and he used this cloaked "self-portrait" as the basis for a painting of the same year entitled Apparition. The title may also refer to Louise Feuillade’s great silent crime film serial of 1913–14 Fantômas, which inspired several other key works by Magritte during this period.

Artist

René Magritte

Date

1928

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Warner Communications Inc. Purchase Fund, 1981