The Empire of Light

For other uses of "Empire of Light", see Empire of Light (disambiguation).

The Empire of Light (Cycle)
French: L'Empire des lumières
The Empire of Light (1954), Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
ArtistRené Magritte
Yearcirca 1939 – 1967
MediumOil on canvas and gouache on paper
MovementSurrealism
LocationMuseum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Museum of Modern Art, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, The Menil Collection, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Magritte Museum, and various private collections

The Empire of Light (French: L'Empire des lumières) is the title of a succession of paintings by René Magritte.[1] They depict the paradoxical image of a nocturnal landscape beneath a sunlit sky.[2] He explored the theme in 27 paintings (17 oil paintings and 10 gouaches) from the 1940s to the 1960s.[3][4] The paintings were not planned as a formal series. They have never all been exhibited together and are rarely exhibited in smaller groups.[1][4] The original French title, L'Empire des Lumieres is sometimes translated as singular, The Empire of Light,[5]: 60 p. [6]: 184 p. and sometimes as plural The Empire of Lights.[7]: 126 p. [8]: 177 p.  Other translations include The Dominion of Light: making the distinction: "an empire exists in relation to a ruler, a dominion does not necessarily require this.”[4]

  1. ^ a b Kantrowitz, Jonathan (25 November 2017), René Magritte: The Fifth Season. Art History News. (accessed 19 December 2020)
  2. ^ "The Empire of Lights also known as L'Empire des Lumieres". Aaron Art Prints. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  3. ^ Peyser, Marijke. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam: A dream collection – Surrealism in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (accessed 19 December 2020)
  4. ^ a b c Zivkovic, Alex (2018), "'It's Like Being in the Picture': The Dominion of Light at SFMOMA". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (accessed 19 December 2020)
  5. ^ Noël, Bernard (1977), Magritte. Crown Publishers, Inc. New York. 96 pp. ISBN 0-517-53009-0
  6. ^ Rubin, William S. (1968) Dada and Surrealist Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York. 525 pp.
  7. ^ Hammacher, A. M. (1973) Magritte. The Library of Great Painters. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 167 pp. ISBN 0-8109-0278-8
  8. ^ Torczyner, Harry (1977) Magritte: Ideas and Images. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 277 pp. ISBN 0-8109-1300-3