The Philosopher’s Lamp-Rene Margritte
The Philosopher’s Lamp is an oil on canvas painting masterfully created by Rene Margritte during the Surrealism movement. It was created in 1936 and was a departure from the Art Deco style that was popular during the 1930’s. Rene Margritte was commonly known as the grandfather of the Surrealism movement with his work challenged people’s preconceived notions of what art should look like and be perceived as. The Philosopher’s Lamp is full of symbolism and is not only interesting but also applicable even a century later.
Even at a quick glance, the content of The Philosopher’s Lamp is full of visually interesting details. According to renemargritte.com, The Philosopher’s Lamp is a self portrait of Rene himself. The well groomed yet saddened man depicted has an exaggerated nose that is wedged into the end of his own pipe that he is smoking. To the left of the piece observe a lit candle on a simple table. The candle, however, runs down the leg of the table and we cannot see where it starts. This scene is set on a simple solid background which is a dull and saddened blue.
The visual elements (aka form) that make up The Philosopher’s Lamp unveil incredibly intriguing messages hidden beneath the visual surface. Looking at the piece and pondering the meaning behind the visual elements is what the goal of Surrealist art really was. The artists created pieces, Margritte’s in particular, tht used ordinary objects that were depicted in very unordinary ways. Illogical proportions and various juxtapositions give Surrealism its unique appeal. Such as in this piece, where the man’s nose is very large or the candle being very long and soft.
One message I was able to take away from The Philosopher's Lamp, was one of irony. The Philosopher's nose being in the end of the pipe that he is currently smoking signifies that he is asking more questions than he is answering, and that he is stuck in a somewhat pathetic loop of meaningless thought exploration. I think this depicted message is applicable to current aspects of our culture, with so many people being so concerned with just hearing themselves speak or appearing intelligent that they fail to do anything meaningful. One source though, takes a slightly different interpretation of what the unproportionally large nose being in the end of the pipe meant. “By painting the man taking the tobacco in such a way, and by making him appear to be sad portrays the message of Magritte's awareness to his own addiction to pleasures (such as smoking a pipe)” (rene-margritte.com). While it’s not the message I took away, I find that there is validity in this message of addiction in this interpretation. This message is just as applicable to our current culture, with too many people putting value into “pleasures” than accomplishments and leaving us overall unsatisfied.
The oddly shaped candle that provides a dim source of light within the piece is also symbolic. What is it symbolic of? Well that’s the real question, and just like the pipe, it has a few different interpretations. My initial interpretation is that the candle burning down was a representation of making progress, and that the reason it was so strangely long was to represent that making this progress is just a path to asking more questions and needing more answers. This connects with my previous thoughts revolving around the pipe and nose. “The candle is a representation that although sometimes life is not clear, one can try to at least see the imperfections clearly. In this case, the imperfections are shown through the theme of addictions.” (rene-margritte.com) I can see how this message is one that could be taken away and it does connect with the overall theme, yet it is not one I really took away by just observing the piece.
Overall, I believe this piece is supposed to make the viewer reflect on what is really important in their life. It reminds me of the age old question of the value in happy ignorance versus the value in well informed misery. We are all philosophers to some extent and all face life with different questions and goals. What I was able to take away is that it is critical to ensure that you are asking meaningful questions and doing things with the purpose of achieving something. Otherwise, you will be in a wild goose chase and left distraught, just like the depiction of himself in The Philosopher's Lamp.
