The Treachery of Images

The Treachery of Images is a work by René Magritte (1898-1967), one of the most well-known Surrealist painters of all time. He created some of the most famous paintings of the twentieth century, and this one is certainly among them.

This painting depicts a pipe with the lines "Ceci n'est pas une pipe." in French for "This is not a pipe." The statement implies that the picture is not a pipe in and of itself, but rather a representation of a pipe. When asked about the well-known painting, Magritte replied, “it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe’, I’d have been lying!” The Treachery of Images is part of Magritte's late 1920s series of word-image paintings. It was completed when he was 30 years old and is said to be a work intended to resist repressive rationalism. The Treachery of Images is Rene Magritte's most renowned picture and one of the most significant masterpieces of the Surrealism movement.

Date created: 1929
Dimensions: 60.33 × 81.12 centimeters (23.75 × 31.94 inches)
Location: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, United States