ELECTIVE AFFINITIES
BY RENE MAGRITTE
BACKGROUND INFO
• Created in 1933, in Belgium by surrealist
painter Rene Magritte
• When asked about the painting, Magritte
said:
– “One night, I woke up in a room in which a cage
with a bird sleeping in it had been placed. A
magnificent error caused me to see an egg in
the cage, instead of the vanished bird…the
shock which I experienced had been provoked
precisely by the affinity of two objects – the cage
and the egg – to each other, whereas previously
this shock had been caused by my bringing
together two objects that were unrelated.”
THINGS TO NOTICE
• There’s nothing holding the egg up in the cage: it
should be leaning against one of the walls.
• There is no door anywhere on the cage. Besides,
the egg is much too large to have been placed
inside the cage from the outside. It is also too large
to ever be taken out once it hatches.
• Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
Something had to lay the egg, but couldn’t have
because, not only is the cage too small for
anything but the egg, there’s no way inside. It’s a
paradox.
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
• What could the egg inside the birdcage
symbolize?
• Is it significant that there is no possible exit from
the cage?
• Does the pessimism of the time period (1930s)
have anything to do with the metaphor contained
in the image?
SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
• The unborn egg sits mysteriously in a door-less
birdcage it is much too large to have been placed
in, and much too large to exit from once it hatches.
This was meant to symbolize how, even before they
are born, people are trapped in pre-made “cages.”
Their lives have already been determined by what
they are born into—in the 1930s, something that
the Great Depression made true. Everyone feels like
they have free will, but in reality, they cannot even
escape from the cage that surrounds them only
millimeters from their skin.
APPEAL
• What aspect does this painting appeal to the
most? (Logos? Ethos? Pathos?)
• To our logic, what does it represent?
• To our ethics, what does it challenge/validate?
• To our emotions, what does it evoke?
AUDIENCE
Who was this painting intended for?
The general public? Philosophers and
scholars? The artist himself?
I would say all of the above.
POINT OF VIEW/PERSPECTIVE
• Rene Magritte created paintings that
frequently featured apples, eggs, pipes,
birds, and cloth-covered people. Most
famous was his Ceci ne pas un… (This is
not a…) series.
• These images were often
intended to challenge the
viewer’s “preconditioned
perception of reality.” (The egg in the
birdcage does just that.)
POINT OF VIEW/PERSPECTIVE
• This theme of our “preconditioned state”
is addressed directly in Elective
Affinities.
• The focus of the image is also the
foreground. The simple image of the
egg in the birdcage is all that is needed
to complete the artist’s message. Thus,
the background is just empty, yellow
space that further isolates the cage.
COMPOSITION?
• The lighting is completely yellow,
giving it the feel of an old, rustic bird
cage.
• The image faces us almost dead-on,
the balance provided by the cage’s
frame gives it an almost symmetrical
feel.
DETAIL/AESTHETICS
• The omission of a door on the cage
represents the fact that we can never
escape from our destiny.
• Design elements, including dimension,
value, and hue not only define the
images, but add more to the symbolism
within. All of these help make the cage
feel isolated against a hazy, yellow
background. The yellow hues that
dominate the picture make it feel muted
and silent: like an egg.
OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE
• It makes a strong statement on the
notion of free will and fatalism.
• Through the use of unlike objects, he
creates an image that gives us a
broader understanding of the world
and makes us think about things in a
different way.
SOURCES
• Magritte, Rene. Elective Affinities.1933. Private
Collection. 29 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/3/216
52.jpg>
• Other Info:
– “Rene Magritte: Elective Affinities.” Olga’s Gallery. 29
Aug. 2009.
<http://www.abcgallery.com/M/magritte/magritte36.html>
– Robin Urton.“Surrealism.” Eyeconart. Robin Urton.
4RealArts. 29 Aug. 2009.
<http://www.eyeconart.net/history/surrealism.htm>
SOURCES
• Adrian Mourby. “Surreal World: Magritte.” Bthere. Ink
Publishing. 29 Aug. 2009.
<http://btheremag.com/2009/06/01/surreal-world/>
THE END