English 680V: Visual Rhetoric in a Technological Age (Purdue)

The Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte (1898–1967) is well known for pointing out the unusual nature of visual perception and the sometimes illogical presumptions we make about the visual world. One of his most famous works is The Treachery of Images, also commonly known as C‘eci n’est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe).

In this painting, Magritte makes a verbal assertion (This is not a pipe) right beneath a visual representation of a pipe. Then he titles the painting The Treachery of Images.

1. What do you think Magritte had in mind? It certainly looks like a pipe!
2. If we’re to believe him, though, then what is it, if not a pipe?
3. How would you explain this painting as a visual argument?
4. Would the meaning be the same if the words weren’t on the painting itself?