Hegel's Holiday

Curated by Max Cantu-Lima

Rene Magritte painted Hegel’s Holiday in 1958. His thought process began with drawings of a glass of water. He wanted to paint it in a way that it would be unique and strong. He wanted people to use the word genius. Beginning with a linear line on the glass, the umbrella eventually developed after several attempts at drawing the glass of water. From a letter Magritte sent to Suzi Gablik regarding this painting, "This line, after the 100th or 150th drawing, widened out and finally took the form 

of an umbrella." Experimenting with the umbrella, originally placed in the water, made its way under the glass. Thus an object with the role of repelling water is juxtaposed by an object who’s purpose calls for containing the water. So now the object becomes a singular unit that both admits and not admits water - it simultaneously contains and repels.