Long Description for
http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/pipe.jpg
The painting depicts a tobacco pipe, underneath which is emblazoned the motto:
Ceci n'est pas une pipe
which translates into english as "This is not a pipe".
For an extended analysis of this painting and the paradoxes it poses the viewer, consult French critic slash philosopher Michel Foucault's book, This Is Not a Pipe, published in 1968. Unfortunately, this title is not currently available from RFB&D, NLS or even CNIB, but an excerpt from Ceci n'est pas une pipe in english translation is available online from the quite comprehensive Foucault web site, located at: <http:/foucault.info>.
René Magritte described the style and substance of his work thus:
My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, "What does that mean?". It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.