The artwork entitled “When the hour strikes” was created by the esteemed artist René Magritte in 1965 in Belgium. It is a representative piece of the Surrealism art movement and is categorized within the genre of symbolic painting.
In the artwork, a dismembered and headless female torso, rendered in a classical sculpture style, is prominently displayed against a desolate and seemingly boundless sandy plain. The figure’s contours and musculature are meticulously detailed, in contrast to the vast, simplistic background. Hovering in the distant sky is a hot air balloon, solitary and serene, providing a stark juxtaposition to the incomplete form in the foreground. The skies are depicted with a soothing palette of soft blues and whites, suggesting a calm and tranquil atmosphere, which juxtaposes the unsettling sight of the torso. This juxtaposition of elements evokes a sense of surreal disconnection, quintessential to Magritte’s symbolic exploration of reality and illusion.
