René Magritte. The Treachery of Images (This is Not a Pipe) (La trahision des images [Ceci n’est pas une pipe]). Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

© René Magritte Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris

	René Magritte (Belgium, Hainaut, 1898 - 1967) *The Treachery of Images (This is Not a Pipe) (La trahision des images [Ceci n'est pas une pipe])*, 1929 Painting, Oil on canvas, Canvas: 23 3/4 x 31 15/16 x 1 in. (60.33 x 81.12 x 2.54 cm); Framed: 30 7/8 x 39 1/8 x 3 in. (78.42 x 99.38 x 7.62 cm) Purchased with funds provided by the Mr. and Mrs. William Preston Harrison Collection (78.7) Modern Art Department.
	Currently on public view: Ahmanson Building Room 224 Since gallery displays may change often, please contact us before you visit to make certain this item is on view. contact us
	This is not a pipe. So says the French inscription in René Magritte’s iconic painting The Treachery of Images. The meaning seems clear enough at first. This isn’t a real pipe, it’s a painting of a pipe! However, if the words instead read “This is a pipe”, they can mean “This picture represents a pipe,” can’t they? It depends on what we mean by “a pipe,” doesn’t it? After all, what does “a pipe” mean? This masterpiece of Surrealism creates a three-way paradox out of the conventional notion that objects correspond to words and images. The Treachery of Images belongs to a series of word-image paintings by Magritte from the late 1920s. He combined images and text in a style suggested both by children’s books, and by Magritte’s early career in advertising. The artist laid out his rationale for word-image paintings in an illustrated text called “Words and Images.”
	Multimedia Tour for this artwork (2008) Download English, Korean, Spanish
	Title (translation) The Treachery of Images (This is not a pipe)

	Artwork in Focus La Trahison des images (Ceci n'est pas une pipe) (The Treachery of images [This is not a pipe]) is one of Rene Magritte's Surrealist masterpieces and an icon of modern art. Heavily influenced by Freudian psychology, Surrealism represented a reaction against the "Rationalism" that some believed led Europe into the horrors of World War I. It attempted to join the realm of dreams and fantasy to the everyday world. ... more
	Subject Groupings Modern Art -- René Magritte
	Modern Art -- The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Gallery
	Modern Art -- Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images
	LACMA Archive Collections -- William Preston Harrison
	Modern Art -- Dada, Surrealism, De Stijl
	Exhibition History Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images. Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 19, 2006 - March 4, 2007. Catalogue by Stephanie Barron, Draguet, Michel Draguet, Sara Cochran, et al.

	Exhibition Catalogs for This Artwork Price, Lorna. Masterpieces from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988, 142 See other artworks in this book
	Freeman, Judi. The Dada & Surrealist Word Image. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989, p. 1; frontispiece
	Siegfried, Gohr. Magritte. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2000, p. 49, cat. no. 21
	Barron, Stephanie, et al. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 2003, p. 208-209 See other artworks in this book
	Books That Discuss This Artwork Sylvester, David. René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné. The Menil Foundation, Philip Wilson Publisers, 1992, vol. 1, 331-332, cat. #303
	Frank, Patrick; Preble, Duane; and Preble, Sarah. Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1999,
	Edson, Laurie. Reading Relationally. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2000,
	Nesbit, Molly. Their Common Sense. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2000, 376
	Green, Christopher. Art in France: 1900-1940. Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, 2000, 320
	Rothfield, Lawrence, ed. Unsettling "Sensation": Arts-Policy Lessons from the Brooklyn Museum of Art Controversy. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press, 2001,
	Cartwright, Lisa and Sturken, Marita. Practices of Looking: an Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001,
	Adams, Laurie Schneider. Art Across Time. New York: McGraw Hill, 2001,
	Peers, Glenn. Subtle Bodies: Representing Angels in Byzantium (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage). Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001,
	Ernst Klett Verlag. Moderne Kunst. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 2001,
	Dyrness, William A. Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 2001, See other artworks in this book
	Douglass, Colleen. "Can You Trust What You See?" The Christian Science Journal 119 (6): 38 (June 2001), vol. 119
	SURREAL: "René Magritte". Bergmann, Rudij, Director. Sunshine TV Productions, Produer. Television, videocassette, videodisc and DVD: 2002, See other artworks in this book
	Velasquez, Manuel. Philosophy: A Text with Readings. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Group, 2002,
	Craig, Alan B. and Sherman, William R. Understanding Virtual Reality: Interface, Application, and Design. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., 2002,

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