Photo By Gail

Belgian Surrealist painter Rene Magritte has always been one of my favorite artists. The Empire of Light, II (1950) is a painting that, upon a cursory glance, might just look like a typical residential street scape of its era. But give it a minute and you’ll notice that the scene depicts both daytime, with the sun and cloud-dotted bright blue sky above, and the evening shadows and street lamp light below. Absolutely amazing.

The Empire of Light, II is part of MOMA’s permanent collection, so you can see it on almost any visit unless it’s temporarily on loan to another museum.

The Museum of Modern Art is Located at 11 West 53rd St, Between 5th and 6th Avenues, in NYC.