La Parade 1940

René Magritte painted ‘La Parade’ using oil on canvas, sometime in the mid-20th century. The colour palette is restrained, almost monochromatic, and the mark making appears deliberate and controlled, which is interesting because artmaking is, at its heart, a chaotic process. Looking closely, you can see how Magritte has meticulously rendered the texture of the tree bark, using fine brushstrokes to capture the subtle nuances of light and shadow. The paint is applied thinly, allowing the texture of the canvas to peek through in places, which gives the painting a slightly raw, almost unfinished quality. Then you've got the curtain, rendered with simple blocks of colour, which sort of flatten the image into a stage set or backdrop. It’s a strange combination, and it makes you think about what’s real and what’s fake, what’s natural and what’s constructed. You might think about de Chirico, who was a big influence on Magritte. But I think Magritte’s a little less serious, a little more playful. His work embraces ambiguity. He invites you to question everything you see.