La Bonne Aventure 

René Magritte made this oil on canvas painting titled ‘La Bonne Aventure’, which translates to ‘The Lucky Adventure,’ sometime in the 20th century. Magritte was a Belgian artist, and a leading figure in the surrealist movement. Surrealism aimed to liberate thought, language, and human experience from the oppressive boundaries of rationalism. Here, an over-sized nose becomes the central figure, dwarfing the landscape and disrupting our sense of scale. The nose might allude to the ways that people perceive the world. Does it point to a heightened or distorted sensory experience? Or could it be a symbol of bourgeois complacency? It seems to be asking us about the place of institutions in our own perceptions. To gain a deeper understanding of Magritte's work, we can refer to historical and biographical research. We can also reflect on surrealism's complex relationship with the history of political radicalism. We can better grasp the meaning of such contingent artwork through deep historical contextualization.