Time Transfixed

Infobox Painting|

backcolor=#FBF5DF
painting_alignment=right
image_size=300px
title=La Durée poignardée
artist=René Magritte
year=1938
type=Oil on canvas
height=147
width=98.7
height_inch=57.87
width_inch = 38.86
diameter_cm =
diameter_inch =
city=Chicago
museum=Art Institute of Chicago

"Time Transfixed" ("La Durée poignardée") (1938) is a painting by the Belgian painter René Magritte. It is on permanent display at the Art Institute of Chicago. [ [http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_6.shtml The Art Institute of Chicago: Art Access ] ] In general, the painting is a surrealist work which challenges the viewer’s sense of reality and comprehension of stability.

Depiction

The painting depicts a locomotive coming out of a fireplace in a rather empty dining room. The fireplace resembles a fireplace. In the mirror all that is seen is the clock and the candlesticks , suggesting that there is neither any furniture nor any people in this room.

The Artist's Explanation

In explaining Time Transfixed, Magritte said: "I decided to paint the image of a locomotive . . . In order for its mystery to be evoked, another immediately familiar image without mystery — the image of a dining room fireplace — was joined."

References