Pebble 1948

René Magritte made this image, Pebble, by using thin black outlines to define a woman against a muted yellow and green grid. The colors and textures in this image make me think about how we construct meaning. The paint feels delicate, almost like watercolor, the way the background bleeds into a grid that is almost-but-not-quite regular. The woman is outlined simply, without much detail or shading. I’m drawn to the way her body is both present and somewhat abstracted by the outlines. The hand covering her breast. There's something about the flatness that reminds me of other artists like Alex Katz, who is obsessed with this kind of simplicity. I like how these artists embraces the idea of ambiguity. Because, really, what is this image? Is it a portrait, a nude, an exercise in color, or just a pebble on a much larger beach?