René Magritte: Meditations on the Nether Beast From Dimension X

This is not a pipe

Many have taken this iconic painting by the Belgian surrealist to be a commentary on the treacherous nature of the image — it makes you believe one thing, while hiding the reality of the image beneath.


The caption, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" or "This is not a pipe" is factually accurate — it is, in fact, a painting of a pipe. Magritte himself once said, "of course it's not a pipe you cretin, just try to fill it with pipe-weed." (Magritte was an immense fan of the Tolkien oeuvre, which he read in its entirety, about a decade before it was written.)


Of course, Magritte was lying.


In his home dimension, it was quite possible to fill a painting of a pipe with "smokables" and enjoy a good puff while watching the Nether Beast destroy ancient civilizations, the concept of solitude, and a slice of cheesecake slathered in raspberry confit.


Check out more Famous Paintings with SF Titles here
Alltop has no idea what confit is, but it sounds tasty, as does Nether anything.
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Published on November 04, 2010 04:00
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