The Lovers statue is an adaptation of Magritte’s painting into a 3D figurine. Les Amants (1928, Oil on canvas) by Surrealist painter René Magritte shows a man and a woman kissing, but shielded by cloaks wrapped on their heads. Although their faces are covered by a veil, the lovers kiss passionately. The strangeness this creates is typical of Magritte's work. Behind the visible hides the invisible: the kiss and the emotion expressed by the face behind the veil.
René Magritte was one of the most famous surrealist painters of all time. His ability to challenge perception inspired many artists to come, such as Andy Warhol, Jan Verdoodt and Jasper Johns. Furthermore, his idiosyncratic vision of Surrealism has won over the hearts and minds of millions.
He worked across various media including painting, printmaking, sculpting, photography, and film. His depiction of normal, everyday objects rearranged in an unusual way allowed his viewers to take a deeper look at what was in front of them and realize what the image truly represented.
One of his most well-known pieces, The Treachery of Images exemplifies his ability to give new meanings to objects. It is an image of a pipe, and beneath it, a message that reads, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (“This is not a pipe”).
This ability to make the mundane strange and the known unknown has solidified Magritte’s talents in the art world. Eventually, it has profoundly affected the Conceptualist and Pop Art movements, to this very day.
