From the 1920s on, the Surrealists, following laws of chance and the inspiration of dreams, sought to weave inner and outer experience into a totally new expression of reality. In his witty paintings, the Belgian René Magritte created absurd juxtapositions and visual puns. His Time Transfixed features improbable elements, including a locomotive emerging from a fireplace, clock, empty candlesticks, plain room, and mirror without reflections, all painted with a realistic technique that paradoxically heightens the mysterious quality of this vivid but dreamlike image.