#584 The Shadow & Its Shadow

Where does one start & the
other finish? & surely they're
mispositioned — she should
be behind him, the proverbial
power behind the throne, as it
were. Or should she? After all,
she was in front of him so often
as he painted her — at the piano,
smoking a cigarette, in the nude, as
she posed for him for more than forty
years. She twelve, he fifteen when they
first met. Married seven years later when
they met again. Side by side this time, a mut-
ual shadow. Changing positions over the next
four decades. Until his death; & for her twenty
shadowless years, only shades, & the paintings
on the walls. Plus that unfinished one on an easel.






photo of René & Georgette Magritte by Paul Nougé. Brussels, 1932.

#583 The Intelligence

There is a scene in David Lynch's
Twin Peaks which replicates the
layout offered here. Not quite
the same — Lynch's characters 
seem to have more intelligence 
than these stereotypical burglars,
& the three-branched candelabra

that supports the women's heads
has been done away with & re-
placed by a minimal chorus line
of pink-clad busty Busby Berkeley
beauties. Add to that that the ex-
terior has been exorcised in the
TV shot. Is purely backstage, with

no window opening out onto an 
industrial landscape tinged in
pink, but it remains a Magritte
concept. & that is what the in-
telligence analysts seek to learn
from, the insights of the man
who brought the unreal to life.

#582 Image with a Green House 1944

In times of war, even
the mighty violincello
feels a need to hide.

Such a pity that they
didn't choose a more
subtle neighborhood

in which to conceal
themselves.

#581 The White Race 1937

No breasts, but two noses. We've
seen them before — or at least a
singular one. Then androgynous;
but with the accompaniments here
are much more feminine. It's the 
lips that give the separate pieces
gender, as they bridge the noses. 
Apart from those, one eye & one
ear. Not quite Lord Nelson, but
the ambition is there, & they're
gathered together on a navy blue
background. The whole kept out 
of the outside by a golden frame.

#580 Trois nus dans un intérieur

A girl's night in, or so
it seems. There's a movie
about that, but not about
life in a cubist setting. A
phrase from the movie —
"together we make up the 
perfect woman" — seems
at first look to have little 
relevance here, & yet the
setting has perfection in-
corporated in it. Light & 
shadow within the space.
A table on which cups are 
set. A bowl of fruit. Com-
fortable with their own &
the others' bodies. An an-
gularity to them that does
not seem to pierce the in-
timacy that fills the room.