There's room at this table

This is something of a unique painting, by the highly influential, Belgian Surrealist artist Rene Magritte (painted in 1928).  It's called "Man with a Newspaper", and speaks of the passage of time and our mortality in this world:

In a previous post from 3-4-2011, I hinted at the futility of a whole universe which was largely inaccessible to the humans dwelling within it. This painting recalls that impression for me, but also suggests the opposite, that physical people are not necessarily important in the big scheme.  Even objects manufactured by our own hand will persist in their existence, after we have vanished.  Perhaps the picture on the wall was painted by the very man reading his newspaper, left to decay and become indecipherable at an indeterminate rate, and yet assuredly outliving its creator.  Magritte's painting could also been seen as a violation to what martial artist Bruce Lee spoke about, in that man is inseparable from his world, and that one does not exist without the other.  That raises the question of whether the view being seen is that of an impassive object, or the sight of a conscious being.  One person can only cease to exist, if someone else is there to appreciate the fact.  And yet, a person is capable of life, even if solitude were the only likely existence.


Magritte's painting hangs at the Tate Gallery, in London.