Landscape 1926

This is a painting by René Magritte, in oil on canvas, and, like much of his work, you can see it's been worked and reworked, with smooth, controlled brushstrokes that give it an almost photographic quality. It’s the kind of painting that makes you stop and ask, "What is even going on here?" The bodies meld into the landscape, becoming one with the trees, mountains and sky, painted in a subdued palette of grays and blues. Look at the way the branches extend across the torsos. It's a clever visual trick, making us question the boundaries between figure and ground, inside and outside. The texture is smooth, almost slick, which adds to the dreamlike quality of the piece. Magritte's work is often linked to Surrealism and Symbolism, but I think it's more interesting to consider the dialogue between the real and the unreal. Perhaps, Giorgio de Chirico was an influence, or vice versa, but with Magritte, you never quite know what to think. And that's the beauty of it.