Le libérateur

Picture : http://uploads5.wikipaintings.org/images/rene-magritte/the-liberator-1947(1).jpg

In 1947, he paints Le libérateur, a surrealist character, holding a strange object made with pearls surrounding a picture of an eye. It looks like a man without a face who is holding all the ingredients of a real Magritte’s painting : a bird, a pipe, a key, a glass, a walking stick, a hat. He is sitting on a rock. Behind him, the sky and clouds, an element we also often meet in Magritte’s work. 

This painting is also a political work. The red cloak makes us think about the red flag symbolizing the revolution, freedom and equality. Indeed, René Magritte was a member of the Belgian communist party at this moment. But we can also draw a parallele between this cape and the red curtain very often present in René’s paintings. 

Moreover, this painting is also a self-portrait.