Untitled collage 1926

This collage was made by René Magritte, and though undated, his exploration of found images and collage align with the surrealist movement. Magritte's art is not about being realistic, it’s about setting up a situation, a puzzle to be solved. There’s a dreamlike quality to this tableau, with its collage of paper and pencil or pastel. The textures are key, right? The rough grain of the wood, the smoothness of the bird, the rigid formality of the musical score. Look closely at how the bird almost melts into the puddle, like the paint itself is bleeding. And the black hook, so abrupt, so final against the delicate feathers. It’s a lot like Kurt Schwitters’ Merz collages, how he put together different materials. Magritte gives us all these different levels of reality, but what does it all mean? Well, that’s not for me to say. It’s up to you to find out.