René Magritte “Empire of Light” (L’Empire des lumières) at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in Italy

Magritte, Empire of Light Painting - Oil on Canvas (195.4 x 131.2 cm) 1953-54

René Magritte realized several versions of this picture, “Empire of Light”.

They all have as common points an urban night scene against a background of the light-blue sky filled with cumulus.

There are no supernatural elements, unreal, no objects diverted from their function in this painting, just the confrontation of the day and night at the same time and place.

Does the light come from below or above, from a uniform sky without precise lighting? Where is the sun?

Only the sky becomes almost supernatural, “abnormal”, and the urban landscape, nocturnal, but illuminated by this reassuring floor lamp.

Magritte, Empire of Light