The seducer 1953

René Magritte made this painting, 'The Seducer', with oil on canvas, and its monochrome palette makes it so moody. It’s as if the making is all about the surface, all about this watery, washy blue. You know, when I look at those horizontal strokes that make up the sea, I see the work of a person patiently building something, layer by layer. It’s not a showy kind of painting, but a thoughtful, step-by-step construction. The sky is all blues and grays, and the edges are kind of fuzzy. The ship that looms out of the water is really strange. Is it solid, or is it more like a ghost ship? I think that this ambiguity makes the piece so compelling. There is something about that ship that reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich, you know, with that slightly gothic, slightly romantic mood. Artists are always riffing off of each other, a bit like a game of telephone through time.