M’gosh, Magritte!

There we were, in Belgium, flying around in our rental car - a very cool and sweet, black Fiat 500 Cabriolet. We were waylaid for at least an hour by the gridlock caused by the large pro-Palestinian demonstration that was clustered along the boulevard in front of our hotel on a sunny, but cold January day. We eventually found ourselves on our way to the museum district. We parked and meandered past the Belgian Royal Palace (click to check out the virtual tour … loved the Empire Room - my mom would’ve too!).

Imagine the amazement at seeing an impressive white building with a giant green apple on it after gingerly walking past noisy street construction and lots of dust. We climbed up the steps to the big, golden wooden doors. Wait. What? It looked like there were some bars across the inside. Argh! Closed Mondays. We eventually wandered off to find the marvellous Markt (Market Square) and Grand-Place and had a marvellous time there, but it was disappointing to not get a chance to go in.

Upon our return, to compensate for the loss of not getting into the museum, I ordered a book called René Magritte The Fifth Season, published by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with a 2018 exhibition of the same name that explores Magritte’s post-Surrealism voice. The book is full of brilliantly printed plates, details, and informative explorations of his art and ideas. Plate 14 is a detail of Magritte’s Human Condition, where the boundaries between interior and exterior are blurred, and his depiction of what we understand vs. what we perceive is inspiring both from a cerebral point of view, and its spectacular visual aspect and delivery.