“Not to be Reproduced” by Rene Magritte, is a painting created in 1937. The painting depicts Edward James, a poet and patron of Rene Magritte, looking at a mirror, only to see a reflection of his back. The painting is considered to be a portrait, although the face of Edward James is not revealed.
The main focus of this painting is the fact that Edward James is staring at his back, although he is looking at a mirror. Next to Edward James is a copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”. When looking at a mirror, we are expected to see a reflection of our own faces, or whatever it is that we are trying to look at. However, James looks at the back of his head and torso, which is absurd, considering that he is looking at a mirror and should be looking at his own face. Perhaps, Magritte speaks of the human tendency to assume, as we are constantly assuming, leaving us unsatisfied when we are given the unexpected. Moreover, Poe’s novel, “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket,” has an abrupt and unclear ending, which had left readers unsatisfied, to which Magritte could be making a direct reference to in this painting.
The color palette of this painting consists of many colors, due to its nature of being a portrait, but notably, Edward James is depicted in black and white colors. Black often symbolizes mystery. Perhaps, this could represent how Margitte depicted the mysteriousness of looking into a mirror with the outcome of something totally unexpected. In a more explicit sense, black represents formality, which is in correlation to how Edward James is dressed. The color white often represents innocence. As humans, we are always innocent to the unknown and unfamiliarity. Magritte paints the flesh of Edward James as white in order to depict the confusion and innocence of experiencing an unexpected outcome.
Ultimately, Magritte uses his painting to express human nature when experiencing something unfamiliar and unexpected.
