The king's museum 1966

René Magritte made this painting, titled "The King's Museum", with oil on canvas. It's all about seeing, or more like, how we put things together in our heads. Magritte's smooth application of paint gives the image a surreal quality, playing with the contrast between flatness and depth. It is as if the figure is a canvas onto which a landscape has been painted, making you wonder where the figure ends and the scenery begins. The figure itself is a study in contrasts, from the smooth, almost airbrushed texture of the skin to the hard lines of the bowler hat. And those features – the tiny, doll-like eyes, the peachy nose and lips – feel so out of place in the blue expanse of the body. It’s like a stage set, where reality and illusion are constantly flipping roles. I see a connection with de Chirico in the stillness and sense of unease, the uncanny valley feeling. And maybe a dash of Dalí's dream logic. But really, Magritte’s his own kind of weird, isn’t he? That’s the beauty of art, isn’t it? It's never just one thing.