The fire 1943

René Magritte made this painting, "The Fire," and wow, does he use color to set the scene! The brushwork is amazing here, thick and almost furry, which makes me think about the physicality of painting, the way the paint sits on the canvas. Look at the blue tree on the left – it’s so solid, and those veins pop out. It’s like he’s building the tree up, layer by layer. The way he balances the cool blue with the warm oranges and reds is just perfect, like a visual seesaw that keeps your eye moving. I love how he takes something natural, like a tree, and makes it so unnatural. It's weird, but it works, because art should be about opening up new ways of seeing, rather than just showing us what we already know. Think about his surrealist pal Joan Miró; Magritte is definitely in conversation with him, pushing boundaries and asking us to question what's real.