I recently had an emotional set-back in relationship to my artwork. 

Each year, the Gallery where I show my work hosts a show called Fabulous Forgeries. I have not participated in the past but the planets aligned and I was able to submit a piece this year.

The gallery goes to some lengths to ensure that the pieces aren’t a stroke for stroke copy – pieces must be “in the style of” and “not the same size” are two of the notes supplied in the call.

 I find this theme…. Challenging – for the lack of a better word. In one sense, it’s a fun exercise to attempt to paint in the style of someone whose work has stood the test of time.  However, I feel as though making the attempt to paint like someone else is being unauthentic to your own style, craft and voice. 

For me, something in the piece I would choose had to call to me.

Renee Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist, who became well known for creating a number of witty and thought-provoking images. He made a number of pieces that included a Man in a Bowler Hat.  

I would say that the most famous of the series is called “Son of Man” – which shows a green apple in place of the man’s face. (This was the painting included in the movie, “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999) featuring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo).

Magritte’s work frequently displays a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. These objects are presented in a manner both suggestive and questioning.

My take was off a piece called “Man with Bowler hat and Dove.” 

In place of the dove, I painted my sparrow.  I should note that my piece follows the same format of my own series – it’s 8”x 8” – in this case, I painted it in acrylic on a cradled panel complete with the signature: cj à la Magritte. The name? “Photobombing the Man in a Bowler Hat.”

I read online: What he wanted, and what he achieved in his best work, was not so much to challenge the viewer as to intrigue him into seeing life liberated from the concrete and the present. 

In a way, I think photobombing is similar – the surprise of something being where you don’t expect it to be.

For me, the whole thing is silly. First and foremost, I don’t intentionally photobomb people period – I dislike getting my picture taken. 

However, in my painting – like all the others – the sparrow represents – myself… living my life, doing odd things and in this instance, I’ve rubbed up against a great artwork and am pretending to somehow be part of it. Like a photobomb where the bomber deliberately horns in on the action. This behavior is so the opposite of who I am – just as attempting to paint like Magritte feels like I’m trying to steal his thunder and that awkward emotion is what I’m attempting to portray in this piece. 

I submitted a photo of my painting and a few days later received a note saying that since Magritte hadn’t been dead more than 70 years, I would need to  secure the approval of his estate for my work. 

That bit of information would have been helpful prior to all my work.

I spent some time being angry with the Gallery. I didn’t convey any of what I was feeling, instead I sent a note saying, “in light of this, I will withdraw my submission.” I think I was angry at the Gallery because they included many other rules – but not the 70 year rule.  

This is a real, thing though…. (In the realm of copyright infringement and lawsuits.) The Gallery has a note that artists should be informed of all rules regarding copyright law etc. So, although logically I could comprehend I was irritated by my own ignorance – I projected that irritation onto the Gallery.

The rebel in me wanted to hang the piece on my wall in the gallery and sell it – thumbing my nose at the “rule makers” LOL   I considered pulling out of the Gallery or at the very least not participating in further shows. But, the sensible woman that lives in my head prevailed. 

At some level, I feel like this was a blessing – because it made me stir around to see if there were other places to showcase my work – and there are.  In fact, sometimes there are so many opportunities, it becomes dizzying to evaluate them all to see which is the better choice. 

While all this was buzzing in my head, I decided to reach out to the Magritte estate to see if I could secure their permission. My first letter I erroneously sent to the Magritte gallery in Paris. Whoopsies! LOL 

Straight away I received a kind response letting me know the contact information for the estate and the note: “Good Luck!”

I will forever be grateful for that person for those few words of encouragement to a stranger in a much-needed time.

There are unusual twists and turns to this story that seem to be exacerbated by communication exclusively through email.

Ultimately, I was able to have the piece included in the show at the Gallery – and I’m glad I did!  Because the piece sold. 

So, here I am.

In the midst of this turmoil, I painted another piece (that I’ll post next) called, “When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Limoncello.”

I think that’s the beauty of all of this… and something I’m proud of: I didn’t quit.  I decided quite sensibly to just “Forge On.”