Forest of Paimpont 1963

René Magritte made this painting, Forest of Paimpont, and like much of his work, it invites us into a space that feels both familiar and deeply strange. The colours are muted, almost like a faded dream, but the forms are precise, delineated with a kind of eerie clarity. Look at the way he paints those trees, those flat, leaf-like shapes lined up like a stage set. They're so deliberately, almost mechanically, placed. The paint itself is smooth, giving it that enigmatic quality that draws you in, as if you’re peeking into another world. And what about that lone figure on horseback? Are they riding into the sunset or away from something? It’s this ambiguity, this resistance to easy answers, that makes Magritte so compelling. It reminds me a little of Giorgio de Chirico, in its dream-like atmosphere but the approach to painting is completely his own. So, let's embrace the questions and relish in the not-knowing. That's where the real magic happens, right?