When the hour strikes 1965

This is René Magritte’s enigmatic painting, When the Hour Strikes, and it's a trip, right? I imagine Magritte, brush in hand, thinking: "How can I shake up the ordinary, maybe even wake people up?" He’s got this classical torso, so solid and still, but it's plonked on a beach under a sky with a hot air balloon, which is just so random. I reckon he’s messing with our sense of place and time. The light is soft, but the whole thing feels crisp and unsettling. I can't help but think of de Chirico when I look at this painting. You get the same uncanny feeling and stillness that he does. I wonder if Magritte was looking at him and thinking about how to take it even further? It’s like he's saying, "Here’s a familiar form, but let’s put it somewhere totally unexpected." I love how painters build on each other’s ideas like that. It's an ongoing conversation.