Towards a Nice, Steady Bourgeois Life

28 x 24 / Oil on Panel
Limited edition giclee prints available via www.paulbondart.com

When the surrealist painter, Rene Magritte was being interviewed about his early career, he shared a story that became the inspiration for this painting. He took a very short-lived job in a wallpaper factory. The reason being, he said, was “to make Georgette as happy as possible in the calm of a nice steady bourgeois life”.

Fortunately, he escaped that mental limitation and went on to become one the 20th century’s most iconic artists. But it made me wonder how many of us sacrifice the risk of following the call of our heart’s desires for comfort and security. Only to reach the end of our lives and perhaps find that we never fully lived.