A storm at sea

I was writing to an artist associate of mine today, when I brought up the subject of Rene Magritte's depiction of balusters in his paintings (a baluster being a decorative column, seen in architecture or furniture). This made me think of a couple of Surrealist paintings of Magritte's which I have long admired, but lately hadn't seen, and for which I couldn't remember the names!  But a little bit of searching on the internet helped me to recall.  The two paintings are pretty similar, and both are from the year 1926.


One of the paintings is Magritte's "The Birth of the Idol":

The other painting is Magritte's "The Difficult Crossing":

Both paintings reveal a nightmarish domestic setting, seemingly on the verge of upset by a raging storm. The balusters, with their ornate designs, take on a gesture of futility in the midst of such upheaval (it reminds me of the lament of utter pointlessness, "The ship is sinking, and I'm polishing the handrail")!  These paintings are easily enjoyed by anyone, who, like me, loves thunderstorms, and that teetering feeling that one experiences in dreams while flying through the air or flailing in an angry sea.


I wonder if "The Difficult Crossing" might have been the inspiration for Paul Nash's painting, "Harbour and Room", from 1932-1936: