Conservation | René Magritte. The False Mirror. 1928

For more information please visit http://www.moma.org/magritte

Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926--1938
September 28, 2013--January 12, 2014

Other Venues and Dates
The Menil Collection, Houston, USA
February 14--June 1, 2014

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
June 25--October 12, 2014

Filmed by J6 MediaWorks. Edited by Corinne Colgan

The false mirror presents us with its enourmous lashless eye

Its iris is very impulssively filled with this luminous cloud swept blue sky

and then right at that center is this matt black opaque disc that doubles as its pupil.

Before cleaning, the pupil was very shiny and glassy and reflective.

Once the varnish was removed the black became very soft and deep, so it really does become the focus of the painting.

You can also see more details in the clouds and the sky.

Also details like the highlights in the corner of the eye became much more apparent and visceral.

The white that forms the highlight on the white of the eye is in sink,

so it´s a cooler white than the white used in the clouds which are softer and warmer.

And we can actually distiguish this in x-ray images that we have of the painting.