René Magritte was a Belgian surrealist. He was famous for his quirky, witty paintings that were meant to toy with the viewers perception of reality and truth. A great, and perhaps the most famous, example of his art's sense of humor and philosophy was in the painting "The Treachery of Images," where a pipe is depicted along with the painted 'caption' "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" -- "This is not a pipe." He described painting as "the art of putting colors side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced, so that familiar objects—the sky, people, trees, mountains, furniture, the stars, solid structures, graffiti—become united in a single poetically disciplined image. The poetry of this image dispenses with any symbolic significance, old or new."

Magritte married Georgette Berger in 1922 and the two had a dog, depicted in the two photographs above. Magritte treasured this dog, Lou-Lou. and often brought him around to art openings.

Musician Paul Simon wrote a song based on them in 1983 titled "René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War." The song is in the spirit of Magritte's work itself, as it de-contextualizes Magritte the famous artist and re-imagines he and his wife as devoted fans of doo-wop groups such as The Penguins, The Orioles, The Moonglows, and the Five Satins. The album was a flop but the song is widely regarded by critics (and me) as one of Simon's very finest compositions.