The present 1939

René Magritte made this painting, The Present, with oil on canvas. It’s quite small, but it feels monumental! The palette is muted, almost like looking through a fog, which gives everything this unreal quality. The process here feels meticulous, the opposite of gestural painting. Magritte’s surface is so smooth, you can hardly see a brushstroke. But look closely at the eagle’s head and the texture of the coat. He’s really playing with how these different surfaces catch the light. It’s like he's saying, "Hey, this is paint, but it can trick you!" The funny thing is, once you notice the paint, the image becomes even weirder. The eagle in a suit is already absurd, but the way he renders it makes it even more uncanny! It’s interesting to compare Magritte to someone like de Chirico, who also painted these unsettling, dreamlike scenes. But where de Chirico is all about stark light and shadow, Magritte’s got this sly humor, like he’s in on a joke we don’t quite get. That’s what keeps me coming back. It's like, what is the present? A bird in a suit? Who knows!