Portrait of Stephy Langui 1961

René Magritte painted *Portrait of Stephy Langui*, and it encapsulates the spirit of Surrealism that questioned perception and reality. In this peculiar landscape, a woman’s enormous face peers down from an archway, while two diminutive men stand on the shore. A massive boulder looms nearby, disrupting any sense of scale. Magritte was interested in how we see and interpret the world. The floating head might symbolize the overwhelming presence of the feminine in a patriarchal society, or, perhaps, the internal world looming large over external reality. Magritte once said, "My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'" Ultimately, the artwork invites each of us to confront our own notions of reality. This dream-like vision evokes a sense of wonder, and urges us to consider the hidden meanings that shape our lives.