Hidden Treasures: the Forgotten Art

Art is an inseparable part of human history. It has been living with the humanity, and it has been growing and evolving just like humanity. The changes in civilization directly reflect evolution of art. Thus art has been in a constant change since primitive graffito of cavemen, to surrealists of today. Of course, tastes differ, but why not accept air transport of carriages? because a carriage is a classic means of conveyance? The same way in art: modern art is worth even more honor than classics, because it is a result of a certain type of art evolution, The Happy Donor by Rene Magritte in particular.
A unique and extraordinary masterpiece, oil on a canvas, the painting is the author’s view of himself. It is a self-portrait, expressed through his prism of perception. The content of the picture is not very sophisticated, yet the idea is not simple at all. The picture portrays an outline of a man in bowler hat from waist upward. Behind the man is a fence made of old coarse bricks, it is a bit lower than the man’s elbows. A sleek sphere with a horizontal line in midst is on the fence to the left of the man. The sphere is a little larger than a fist. Behind the fence there is dark gray emptiness. The most fascinating part of the picture, however, is the part encompassed by the outline of the man. There is no sign of a man at all inside it, but a surreal texture, looking like a picture in the picture. In this “second” picture (the one “inside” the man) the author depicted a lit house in the middle of the woods at night. The house is a two-storied angular building, with six windows (three at each floor). It is situated exactly where the heart of the man should be. At both sides of the house and behind it grow many trees. And in front of it there are a few trees also. The light of the sun is still seen over the treetops, which means that the sun has set recently. Also, the old moon crescent hovers above the house, right in the spot where the man’s forehead should be. 
The title of the painting explains a lot. The happy donor is the man on the picture, who in fact is the painter Rene Magritte. He depicts himself as a real and well-known part of the world, the world that is filled with boring elements. Low harsh fence and the ball split in half represent the boring and banal world. And the landscape inside the man represents the real being. Rene Magritte is a donor because he gives this reality to the world and to the viewers of the painting in particular. This activity, apparently, makes him happy.
Unlike classic painters, Rene Magritte suggests a newer view on art. Van Gogh’s or Picaso’s works, The Happy Donor has an ulterior sense behind it. The painter tries to make it clear for the viewer that what he paints is the way he views himself, but he views as a source of real and natural perception. And the rest of the world is simple, represented by the fence and the ball. This way, the painter views the world as boring and simple, full of nothingness, and this is the real perception the painter tries to convey. 
An intelligent viewer would understand that good contemporary painters, Rene Magritte in particular, do not stick to idea that simplicity is “cool.” Rather painters of the twentieth century try to convey their own, unique and original perception. As seen from the discussion above, The Happy Donor is a much more complicated painting that it looks from the first glance. There is much more ulterior sense behind it that remains obscured until certain point of consideration. 
The history testifies that great people who contribute to science or art are only accepted after long their deaths. The situation continues even now, when many contemporary artists are rejected because they contribute fresh and new ideas. Should the people commit the same mistake again and again, and waste a century to understand that the twentieth century artists are worth respecting? No, people should see the beauty and accept the fresh and new artistic ideas now, and honor contemporary artists and accept them, and admire them.