The Balcony, 1950 by Rene Magritte

The Balcony, 1950 by Rene Magritte
The Balcony, 1950 by Rene Magritte

Typical of Magritte's mixing of categories is the ambiguity between the Things represented and the ideas governing them: The Balcony, originally created by Manet has three female figures in white dresses. When questioned on this by Michel Foucault, Magritte said simply:

For me the setting of The Balcony offered a suitable place to put coffins. The "mechanism" at work here might form the object of a learned explanation, which I am unable to provide. The explanation would be valid, indeed beyond question, but that would not make it any less mysterious. ”

He points out his verbal pun on "perspective", which in French can also mean "outlook" or "prospect": the fate that awaits us all. "This word", continues the artist, "like others, has a precise meaning in a context, but the context - as you show better than anyone in "Words and Things" - may say that nothing is confused save the mind that imagines an imaginary world".