The Human Condition《人类的境况》

爱艺

Two of Magritte’s favored themes were the “window painting” and the “painting within a painting.” The Human Condition is one of Magritte’s earliest treatments of either subject， and in it he combines the two， making what may be his most subtle and profound statement of their shared meaning.

The Human Condition displays an easel placed inside a room and in front of a window. The easel holds an unframed painting of a landscape that seems in every detail contiguous with the landscape seen outside the window. At first， one automatically assumes that the painting on the easel depicts the portion of the landscape outside the window that it hides from view. After a moment’s consideration， however， one realizes that this assumption is based upon a false premise： that is， that the imagery of Magritte’s painting is real， while the painting on the easel is a representation of that reality. In fact， there is no difference between them. Both are part of the same painting， the same artistic fabrication. It is perhaps to this repeating cycle， in which the viewer， even against his will， sees the one as real and the other as representation， that Magritte’s title makes reference.

Magritte’s use of the curtain in this picture invoked a device that had been employed by a number of the Old Masters as a trompe-l’oeil1 way of drawing the viewer into the composition， pointing to the artifice of the scene， and also showcasing their own ability to paint something as lifelike as the drapery hanging in front of a picture; this was the case， for example， in The Art of Painting and The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer2. Magritte’s play with the nature of the picture surface was given great scope by his use of similar devices， be it in the stage curtain of The Human Condition.

馬格利特最喜欢的两个主题是“窗户画”和“画中画”。《人类的境况》一画是马格利特对这两个主题最早的呈现之一。他在此画中将二者加以组合，表达它们共有的含义，这可能是他对此所做的最微妙也最深刻的一次呈现。

《人类的境况》描绘了放置在屋内、窗前的一个画架。画架上搁着一幅无框风景画，风景画的每一处细节似乎都与窗外的风景相连。起初，观者会自然而然地认为，画架上的画描绘的是看不到的那部分窗外风景;然而，片刻思考后就会意识到，最初的想法是基于一个错误的前提，即马格利特画中的意象是真实的，而画架上的画是对那个真实意象的再现。事实上，它们之间没有区别。两者都属于同一幅画，是同一项艺术创作的一部分。在这一往复循环中，即使不愿意，观者也会将一个视为真实存在，另一个视为艺术再现——马格利特为此画所起的标题或许谈论的正是这种循环。

马格利特在这幅画中对窗帘的运用令人想起一些早期绘画大师用以吸引观者的视错觉画法，既点明了画中场景的巧妙设置，也展示了自己的绘画能力——逼真呈现绘画对象，就像这块窗帘真的挂在一幅画前。比如，这样的画法在约翰内斯·维米尔的《绘画艺术》和《戴珍珠耳环的少女》中也可以看到。通过采用类似画法，马格利特处理画面性质时得到了很大的发挥空间，《人类的境况》中舞台幕布般的窗帘清楚显示了这一点。