The Lovers I _{(Rene Magritte, Surrealism)}

The Lovers I, is one of a small group of pictures painted by Magritte in Paris in 1927-28, in which the identity of the figures is mysteriously shrouded in white cloth.

The origin of this disturbing image has been attributed to various sources in Magritte's imagination. Like many of his Surrealist associates, Magritte was fascinated by 'Fantomas', the shadowy hero of the thriller series which first appeared in novel form in 1913, and shortly after in films made by Louis Feuillade. The identity of 'Fantomas' is never revealed; he appears in the films disguised with a cloth or stocking over his head. Another source for the shrouded heads in Magritte's paintings has been suggested in the memory of his mother's apparent suicide. In 1912, when Magritte was only thirteen years of age, his mother was found drowned in the river Sambre; when her body was recovered from the river, her nightdress was supposedly wrapped around her head.

Magritte's Other Works