The Great War 1964

René Magritte made The Great War with oil on canvas, and there’s a real softness and control in his mark making that gives the painting a familiar yet dreamlike quality. The brushstrokes here are really subtle, almost invisible, which adds to the surreal feeling. Up close, the flatness of the green apple against the gradient of the sky is so striking, creating a tension that makes you question what you see. Magritte, I think, is playing with the idea of surface and depth, what's hidden and what's revealed. The apple smack in the middle of the face feels almost comical, like a cartoon. Magritte’s work can be read alongside that of other surrealists like Salvador Dalí, who also questioned the nature of reality, each in their own way finding the uncanny in the everyday. It's this kind of questioning that keeps art alive and kicking.