This Is Not A Painting

I learned today that some of my favorite paintings are by the same artist. Unlike the dysmorphic anatomies of Picasso and wildly divergent realities of Dalí, Belgian surrealist René Magritte created perfectly ordinary scenes with a subtle and cunning twist. In many cases, one could have a fulfilling discussion about a Magritte painting without having seen it, but having heard a description. They can also be contemplated for several minutes in solitude, your brain playing a cat-and-mouse game with truth and meaning.

René François Ghislain Magritte is a trickster more like a Zen master than a merry prankster. The casual observer glides over the image, but when his consciousness engages he has a "Hey, wait a minute..." moment. In addition, I approve of his bowler-infested world.

This discovery brought to you by some seriously awesome MacBook stickers.