L’Incorruptible 1940

René Magritte created this dream-like painting, “L’Incorruptible,” with oil on canvas, layering thin washes of paint. The monochromatic palette evokes the cold, hard, untouchable nature of stone. Magritte meticulously renders the textures of the statue, the rock, and even the cloudy sky, giving a hyper-realistic feel to this impossible scene. The statue, with its blank, unknowing eyes, dominates the foreground. A stark contrast to the organic shapes of the tree’s branches, which seem to be reaching out. There’s something about the way Magritte uses thin layers to build up the image that reminds me of Giorgio de Chirico, another artist who reveled in the unsettling juxtaposition of objects and the uncanny atmosphere that can arise from mundane scenes. In the end, we're left with questions rather than answers, which, in my opinion, is the point of art anyway.