#579 The Castle of the Pyrenees, defaced

A painting in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem by the Belgian artist René Magritte
has been damaged by a 5-year-old boy wielding a pine cone.
CNN: 6.12.2026

Battlements on top, the rock beneath on which it's built, the ample space between the rock & the sea below —
should be enough. But in air is light as.

The rock, carrying its castle cargo, drifts eastward across the Mediterranean until it runs aground.
Because of its uniqueness, is placed in a space available in a museum in Jerusalem. Is held there,
exhibited, bereft of protective glass.

Years pass. Then one day a boy picks up a pine cone in the museum garden, wonders if the magical
assemblage inside that he & his grandmother have come to see will withstand something more than
a human viewing.

Or maybe thinks the painting needs a symbolic addition of the real to make it complete. The
pine cone he is still carrying, attached like a brooch to the painting.

The three AI images are from the museumnews Instagram account

#578 A Storm

It is a platform in space. High-
lighted, to further differentiate 
it from the dark abyss that laps 
its edge. There are few stars a-
bout, almost as an afterthought, 
even though they are what would
be expected in this environment. 
What is surprising are the blocks — 

buildings without windows? — 
that dominate this space in space. 
There are also a few multicolored 
clouds around, drifting above & 
between the building blocks. Seems
like a storm might be brewing.

#577 Sentimental Colloquy (1946)

Dans le vieux parc solitaire et glacé, 
Deux formes ont tout à l’heure passé.
Paul Verlaine: Le Colloque Sentimental
Cloaks keep the bilboquets
warm. The gouache is oblique,
which means no light passes

through, which means it makes
it seem even colder. Even in
death, even depicted as andro-

gynous, they can still be recog-
nized as lovers. It is those blue 
eyes that give that fact away.

#576 Forethought (1943)

I have brought you this tree
of flowers. It is one I had
prepared earlier, before I
knew your tastes, & what
colors you liked, & did
perfumes or particular
scents play havoc with
your sensors. Some may
regard this as exemplary
forethought on my part.
I prefer to see it as cover-
ing all the bases as best as
one can in a time of war.

#575 Une Panique au Moyen Âge (2)

Nous sommes les jongleurs sans tête. Nous
avons travaillé ensemble si longtemps 
que nos corps finissent par fusionner.

La plupart du temps, on arrive à garder 
le contrôle ; mais parfois, dans un
environnement inconnu, on perd

le nord. On panique, les aveugles ne 
peuvent plus suivre les autres aveugles.

We are the headless jongleurs. Have
worked together for so long our
bodies are known to merge.

Most times we can keep our shit
together; but, sometimes, in un-
familiar surroundings, we lose

our way. We panic, the blind no
longer able to follow the blind.