Discovery, 1928 by Rene Magritte

The title of the painting is clear: that which exists but had remained concealed and unknown is revealed. The apparent simplicity of various paintings belonging to this period is suddenly disturbed by the unexpected alteration here in the material of the skin of the naked figure. The grain of wood, which was an obsession with Magritte. appears here like a tattoo on the skin of the naked woman, making it even more sensual and adding both a somber and voluptuous quality to the painting. Moreover, the unusual idea of the grained wood appearing in the skin, like the beginning of some imminent transformation, removes this nude to the realm of the semidream.

Magritte considered a picture like this one to represent an evolution of the concept of combined objects: things gradually becoming.something else.

Recollections of the flame patterns in wood and of the charms of woman's naked flesh have converged in Magritte's imagination, enriching his conceptual powers to an unusual degree.