Collective invention

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Dimensions: 73,5 x 97,5 сm.
Location: The Art Collection of the North Rhine-Westphalia (Dusseldorf, Germany).

One of the most shocking works of the artist, which depicts an incomprehensible creation with a fish head and legs of a woman. Many call this strange creature, which is present in several works of Magritte, “the reversed mermaid”, associating it with a more familiar way when a girl has a fish tail instead of legs. But while ordinary mermaids look attractive and tempting, enchanting sailors with their singing, the “mermaid” of Magritte causes a feeling of rejection and even disgust with her naked nakedness and unnatural form. Thrown out of the water ashore, it seems dead or dying and awakens only pity.