Adults - René Magritte - Collective Invention

The Collective Invention, created in 1934, is one of the typical works in which Magritte triggers a provocation by reversing a traditional image: the mermaid, a symbol of seduction in the collective imagination, is here represented by the reversal of the components as a disturbing creature with the head and body of a fish and the legs of a woman. The result is a disturbing, cold and repulsive portrayal.

© C.H./ADAGP, Paris 2023