Stimulation objective c. 1938 - 1939

René Magritte made this painting, *Stimulation objective*, sometime in the 20th century, using oil on canvas. Magritte's smooth surfaces remind me a bit of early computer graphics, where everything had this hyper-real, almost plastic look. Look how the light hits the jug and the apple. There's this real clarity, but also something eerie. The shadows are so precise, almost too perfect. That little jug on the jug, and the apple within the apple – it’s like Magritte is doing a Russian doll trick, messing with our sense of scale and reality. It feels like he’s saying, "Hey, what you see isn't always what you get." You know who else played with that sort of uncanny clarity? Giorgio de Chirico. There's that same feeling of being in a dream, where everything's a little off. Art is all about having a conversation.