L’oasis 1926

René Magritte created this painting, called L’oasis, during a time of immense social change. The canvas presents a surreal landscape where trees grow from a table in a barren desert, their foliage replaced by clouds. Magritte’s unsettling juxtaposition invites us to question our perception of reality. In post-war Europe, surrealist artists were keen to express the subconscious, tapping into the anxieties and absurdities of modern life. The arid desert setting and the displaced trees may evoke feelings of alienation and environmental concern. It is as if the landscape itself is displaced. The image challenges conventional representations of nature and domesticity. "My painting is visible images which conceal nothing," Magritte once said. "They evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'". Ultimately, L'oasis encourages us to confront our assumptions about the world, inviting us to find new meanings in the intersection of the ordinary and the strange.