The Empire of Light (1950)

Artist - Rene Margritte

Medium - Oil on Canvas

Size - 31' x 39 '

At first glance, this painting depicts the usual, real piece of the urban landscape. A simple two-story house with white walls stands on the shore of a small lake. Its small windows exude warm light, evoking the thought of home, comfort, and peace. The warm light of a single lantern in front of the entrance is like a beacon for a weary traveler who would want to stay overnight in the wonderful little house. It is surrounded by dark trees, safely covering it from storms and winds. It is a quiet night, and all seems well. But give it a minute and you will notice a confusing scene. Look above and you would see a piercing blue sky with fluffy clouds floating by. Amongst all this is a feeling of coldness and the fact that the image is devoid of human emotion. The rooms seem empty, there is a feeling of unease surrounding them. The artist has drawn attention to the painting by creating both day and night, two incompatible phenomena. There are 16 different versions of this painting, each different from another. The painting is incredibly simple, with only one fantasy element mentioned above. Are we looking at a painting that is created in the daytime but is slightly gloomy? Or are we observing a nighttime scene, illuminated by a single streetlight? This is the beauty of this painting, the skill of the artist to infuse both day and night into one image.

The sky has been painted in an incredibly unsettling light, it appears uninviting and cold, even though it is lit and the darkness which surrounds the light is something to be feared. It is painted in keeping with the movements of its day. Observing this painting on a deeper level, we can conclude that light represents good and darkness is evil. Can light and dark exist together? Does the painting depict the forces of good and evil and the fact that they can exist side by side in everyday reality? We can assume that the evil lurking can be driven away with the light representing purity.

French artist Rene Magritte worked in the style of impressionism which is rather difficult to the perception of the flow of visual art. Many of his paintings remain unwritten; they remain in the artist's mind in the form of formulated concepts. In the world of Rene Margritte, nothing was impossible. The day could peacefully coexist with the night. In his words, "I have reproduced different concepts in The Empire of Lights, namely a nocturnal landscape and a sky as we see it during the daytime. The landscape leads us to think of night, the sky of day. In my opinion, this simultaneity of day and night has the power to surprise and to charm. This power I call poetry".