A René Magritte Parody: His Invisible Cat

Rene Magritte’s Invisible Cat and why you can’t see him… Walking into a room of Rene Magritte’s paintings is like entering a workout gymnasium for your brain. Nothing expected happens with Rene Magritte, even when you expect the unexpected.

By David Stone

Assorted Ideas, Large & Small

René Magritte’s Invisible Cat

One of Magritte’s most famous paintings is of a simple pipe against a plain background. Beneath the image is an inscription: Ceci n’est pas une pipe. Translated: This is not a pipe. And, of course, it’s not. It’s a picture of a pipe. That’s not just word play, it’s a way of jiggling your mind out of established patterns.

 Other surrealist and impressionist artists may make you think. Magritte forces you to. Or you can just leave the room.But why leave when the art is so easy to enjoy?

Many of his paintings are beautiful, like La cuerda sensible (The Chord), where a cumulus cloud rests atop a giant glass that dominates a semi-arid plain. Others, like the baffling La condicion humana (The Human Condition), poetically challenge your perception of reality.

In almost every instance, no matter how challenging, Magritte creates a painting so pleasing to look at, you are willing to go the next step and think about it.

Think about it you will, too, and you will probably still think about it after you’ve left the gallery and are trying to concentrate on something else. Magritte finds his way into your subconscious, because that’s where the real conversation takes place.

As the most playful of surrealists, Magritte digs beneath the surfaces that you believe in to set your imagination running in the absurd world behind it. Often, it’s a world of dreams or one of doubts stuffed back from conscious awareness. He believes in a world of masks in which things are greater than they appear to be. Fears, wishes and everyday assumptions prop it up.

Twisted Logic Behind Magritte’s Invisible World

One of the most startling facts about The Invisible World, which Magritte painted in 1954, is that, less than ten years earlier, the artist supported himself by painting fake Picassos. In the post World War II period, he also raked in cash by printing fake bank notes with his brother, Paul. You can see where invisibility might be an advantage.

In Le monde invisible, Magritte again plays with words. An invisible world couldn’t really be painted, could it? Or is he suggesting something else, something more hidden and sinister than invisible? It’s Rene Magritte, so who knows?In the background, an endless sea has indefinite contours while a storm gathers above. The foreground is less predictable. A chiseled boulder casts a deep shadow across a formal-looking room in front of a window to the sea.

The image is solid and indefinite simultaneously, changing and certain — much like most of our dreams.

People sharing their lives with cats eventually become aware of their feline companions exceptional abilities for teleportation and intermittent invisibility. Those gifts set up the perfect model for The Invisible Cat. Sam pops into view in Magritte’s painting, completely invisible, just like the rest of the world.

Also from Assorted Ideas, Large & Small

• 
  The 7 Big Benefits of Cat Art in Your LifeMarch 8, 2023
  If you’re like most people, you probably think of art as a way to decorate your home or office. But did you know that art can also have a profound impact on your mental and
• 
  Why cats are the best-evolved animals in the modern worldJanuary 31, 2023
  There’s no denying that cats are some of the most fascinating creatures on the planet, but are they also the best-evolved? And while there are many reasons why they’re so special, one thing, in particular,
• 
  What is a cat’s lifespan now? Shorter than ours but…January 28, 2023
  Cats are one of the most popular pets in the world, and a cat’s lifespan varies depending on a number of factors. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at how long cats typically
• 
  Cats Quotes – Insightful and Amusing Words from Smart MindsJanuary 27, 2023
  National Cat Day is October 29th, and looking ahead, that got us thinking about all the ways cats have entwined themselves in peoples’ lives. This collection of cats quotes illustrates the breadth and depth of
• 
  Which cats are hypoallergenic? Get the Benefits Without the SneezingNovember 16, 2022
  While there are many different breeds of cats, not all of them are hypoallergenic. In general, hypoallergenic breeds tend to have less fur and produce less of the protein that causes allergies in humans. As

davidstone1313

See author's posts