The Empty Mask

Infobox Painting|

backcolor=#FBF5DF
painting_alignment=right
image_size=300px
title=The Empty Mask
artist=René Magritte
year=1928
type=Oil on canvas
height=81.2
width=116.2
height_inch=31.97
width_inch = 45¾
diameter_cm =
diameter_inch =
city=Cardiff
museum=National Museum Cardiff

"The Empty Mask" (1928) is a painting by Belgian surrealist René Magritte.

In his essay "Words and Images", published in 1929, Magritte observed that each image "suggests that there are others behind it". Viewed through a freestanding frame of irregular shape, these images are a sky, a lead curtain festooned with sleigh bells, a house façade, a sheet of paper cut-outs, a forest and a fire.

The title evokes the fear of the invisible which pervades the artist's work and reflects the surrealists' fascination with the subconscious. The painting was purchased in 1973 and is currently on display in the National Museum of Wales.

ources

* [http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/art/online/?action=show_item&item=1264&
]