Detail of The Portrait by Magritte in the Museum of Modern Art, August 2010

René Magritte
The Portrait
Brussels 1935

A simply laid-out meal is not as simple as it seems. Each object is rendered with equally sharp focus and pictorial realism, yet any expectation of everyday reality is overturned, above all by the unblinking eye that stares inexplicably from a slice of ham on a plate. The perspective of this still life tilts dramatically toward the surface of the picture plane, as if to confront or perhaps invite the viewer to join the table.-- Gallery label from Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary,
1926–1938 , September 28, 2013–January 12, 2014 .

Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 28 7/8 x 19 7/8" (73.3 x 50.2 cm)
Credit: Gift of Kay Sage Tanguy
Object number: 574.1956
Department: Painting and Sculpture

Text from: www.moma.org/collection/works/79990