“The Son of Man” is an evocative oil on canvas painted by Rene Magritte in 1964 in Belgium, and is representative of the Surrealism art movement. Measuring 116 by 89 cm, the self-portrait is currently held in a private collection.
The artwork features a man in a dark overcoat and a bowler hat, standing in front of a low wall that overlooks a calm sea under a cloudy sky. The man’s face is almost entirely obscured by a floating green apple, positioned such that the viewer’s attention is drawn to the juxtaposition of the everyday attire with the sudden, surreal element. This carefully crafted combination of the ordinary and the extraordinary serves as a hallmark of Magritte’s surrealist style, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
