Man reading a newspaper 1928

René Magritte made "Man Reading a Newspaper" using oil paint, though its exact date is unknown. The color palette is muted, like a memory fading, and the brushwork, well, it's so smooth it almost hides itself. It's as if he's trying to make the unreal look as real as possible. The texture is really flat, denying the materiality of the paint. It’s this flatness that contributes to the dreamlike quality, that feeling that you're looking at something just out of reach. I’m drawn to how the man is replicated in four panels like a comic strip. Repetition in art is like saying a word over and over again until it loses its meaning. Maybe Magritte is questioning the meaning of everyday life, turning the mundane into a puzzle. It reminds me a little of Giorgio de Chirico, especially that feeling of alienation. Ultimately, Magritte invites us to embrace ambiguity. Nothing is quite what it seems.