Les Valeurs Personnelles (Personal Values), by Rene Magritte, 1952

Artist: Rene Magritte
Title: Personal Values (Les valeurs personnelles), 1952
Type: Oil painting
Dimensions: 80 cm x 100 cm

Magritte used a deadpan, illustrative technique that clearly articulated the content of his pictures. His painting style was akin to the Old Masters’ style, realistic and ultrafine. The illustrative quality of Magritte's pictures results in a powerful paradox: images that are beautiful in their clarity and simplicity, but which also provoke unsettling thoughts. They seem to declare that they hide no mystery, and yet they are also marvellously strange. Who would have expected to see objects with absurd and out of the norm proportions in a room? It is for certain that Magritte wanted to create a visual spectacular for viewers, who will upon being stunned by the queer images, start to question the definition of his painting.

“My painting is visible images which conceal nothing... they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.”—Rene Magritte

Indeed, the objects portrayed in Personal Values are a mystery, but I disagree with mystery being unknowable as it can be solved. Firstly, there are several illustrations of mundane objects, namely the comb, bed and matchstick, wine glass, soap, armoire and the familiar sight of a bedroom. Combining the ensemble of ordinary items with the title of the art work, I deduce that these objects are perhaps the personal articles of the artist, symbolic of his personal values.

The comb is representational of a tool to present a socially accepted exterior. Its position—resting on the bed—mimics a standing figure; its placement reminds us of its relationship with the pillow. The comb is a tool used to groom one’s hair after resting, so as to present a kempt exterior to the polite society, an aspect of life that was perhaps most important to Magritte since he was a reputable artist and had to keep up a good image of himself in the public. The soap suggests the importance of grooming, which one again shows how Magritte was very particular about his personal hygiene and image.

The bed and the matchstick present a visual pun that suggests a play on the French phrase “Tu m’allumes,” or “You turn me on,” which conveys Magritte’s sense of humour.

The armoire suggests a psychological interior that holds clues to Magritte’s life. Also, the mirror on the armoire symbolizes psychological space and the realm of fantasy, a popular iconography used by the Surrealists.

The sky painted on the walls implies that this room is free from its physical limits as is human imagination, suggesting to viewers that it is up to their imagination to interpret the composition of Personal Values.

In addressing the process of creating Personal Values, Magritte wrote：”Painting for me is a description of a thought. The thought can only consist of visible objects, which exist in my head as clear images…” And these vivid images translated to become the photorealistic images on the canvas that form his Personal Values.

My own Personal Values

Firstly, I would say that I don’t like to be in darkness, so I placed a lamp as one of the objects with ‘value’ to me. Only in light can I think properly and work at ease. Next, my spectacles are placed such that it faces the lamp which is suggesting that I am always seeking light (pun intended), be it the truth of matters or literally light that illuminates the world, but mainly, the value of the spectacles is for me to see.

Behind the lamp, there’s a pillow and an alarm clock—pillow simply because I need it to sleep and the alarm clock is needed for me to wake up. So by placing these two items together, I intend to create a sense of juxtaposition where the values of both items contradict, but they are actually placed together, on the bed. The alarm clock seems to be placed haphazardly because it is what I do every day when I hear the alarm—throw the alarm clock to one side—and continue to sleep.

In front of the lamp, there are three items, my watch, bus pass and notebook. The watch is for me to keep track of time, bus pass for me to travel to and from school and the notebook is for me to keep agendas. That’s pretty all, and the objects are in actual proportion because they are real and they have thereabout the same scale because they have equal importance to me—they are all my personal belongings and have equal status in my heart.