The connivance 1965

This is René Magritte's painting, "The Connivance," and it's made with oil paint. I love how Magritte sets up a scene, then drops in something totally unexpected. It's like he's saying, “Hey, reality is weirder than you think!” Look at that stone fish perched on the rocks. The texture is amazing, right? You can almost feel the rough, porous surface. And the way the light catches the fish's scales makes it look so solid, so real. The brushwork is subtle, almost hidden, but that’s his game: making the unreal seem real, like a trick of the eye. The fish itself is like a thought, perched precariously. Is it a monument to the sea, or just a strange, unsettling joke? I’m reminded of Giorgio de Chirico, who made paintings of empty piazzas and classical statues. Both artists tap into something uncanny, something that makes you question what’s real and what’s not. Art doesn’t need to be one thing or the other, art is what embraces the possibilities of both, all at once.