Imp of the Perverse 1927

This is René Magritte’s “Imp of the Perverse,” an oil on canvas. Look at that grey shape, like a big jigsaw puzzle. I imagine Magritte building the painting from the back forward: first that dark, atmospheric background, then the interlocking, strangely organic shapes of grey. I wonder what Magritte was thinking when he decided to place pieces of wood grain inside of it all, pale and vertical. I mean, this isn't just wood, it's wood-grain, a picture of wood. It's like he's playing with ideas of representation and reality. Each piece is smooth and perfectly rendered, with lines that meet and form tight corners; a painting within a painting. Painters like Magritte invite us to question how we see and understand the world, and they do this in paint, by hand. This kind of work opens doors in your brain, and makes way for the next painter to kick them wide open.