Ceci N'est Pas Une Pomme

1964. France. René Magritte. The Son of Man.

It's one of the most iconic paintings of the last 100 years. A man with a bowler hat and an apple in front of his face. "The Son of Man" by René Magritte.

You see a man with an apple in front of his face standing in front of a brick wall which is in front of a large body of water. The man is wearing a bowler hat, suitcoat, and a red tie. If you look closely enough, you will notice that his left arm doesn't look quite right. In fact, you may recognize that he doesn't even have a left arm, but a second right arm.

The Son of Man is actually a part of a three painting series. It is often grouped with Man in the Bowler Hat and The Great War of the Façades. René Magritte painted two men in bowler hat, one with an apple and one with a passing bird in front of their faces and then the third is an elegantly dressed woman with a collection of flowers blocking her face.

It may also be referring to another artwork done by Magritte, "Ceci n'est pas une pomme," which translates to "This is not an apple." It is obviously an apple, but it isn't really an apple. It's a drawing of an apple. How can we relate this to the painting, and to life?

René Magritte was quoted talking about The Son of Man, saying, "Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well." In "The Son of Man," the apple hides the face of the man. It could be a reference to his quote, that this man is just like the rest of us, hiding secrets. But art is meant to be taken in the way that the viewer wants to take it.

If we are in a Christian church and think of the title The Son of Man, what do we think of? We would probably think of how Jesus Christ is referred to as the son of man throughout the writings of the gospels. it is commonly thought that Magritte may have also been referring to religion when he painted this portrait. It may be referencing the transfiguration of Christ, which is that the body of Christ is not the true perfect form.

Continuing with Christianity, when we think of an apple, we either think of the fruit of good and evil that Adam and Eve partook of to be exiled from the Garden of Eden. In mormonism, we often think of the tree of life. To a Latter Day Saint, we may see the apple as fruit, as something sweet and precious, like the gospel. However, in a lot of Christian paintings throughout history, apples are a symbol of evil.

I have a picture of The Son of Man on my phone case. At first, it was a more subconscious choice than anything, but as time and knowledge grew, I have realized that there is another translation of this.

We could view this man as the symbol of the real Son of Man, Jesus Christ. However, referencing René Magritte's quote, perhaps this man is just pretending to be Jesus Christ. Perhaps this man is pretending to be what is truly good and truly worthwhile. The man does have a red tie, which Jesus Christ is often portrayed wearing the color red, to represent the blood that he sacrificed for us. But the man is dysfunctional, and he is hiding something.

Perhaps you can see him as the Media. Façading as something great, and in some cases is, but overall, is not doing much for your eternal salvation. I realize now that it is a reminder on my phone that this is not the fruit of life.

I just finished a two week fast from social media. It was intriguing to see how I would replace social media and I found that it was so much more wholesome to be reading the news or even playing games on my phone as opposed to mindlessly scrolling through facebook newsfeed. Facebook has fallen from the "social" part of media and has turned into a place with suggested videos of cats and shared posts about how Donald Trump is going to ruin the world. Media really isn't the fruit of life.

My challenge is for everyone to find a way to replace the mindless drone of social media. To maybe read the real newspaper, or read a book. Maybe talk to people in person or even over the phone. Life can be so much better than the selfies on instagram and the funny videos on facebook. Remind yourself that media is not going to fill you like real interactions and real information can. Find something that is going to impact you and make a difference.

Visit family, read a classic, travel the world! Be the person you have always wanted to be.

#FamilyFoundations #SocialMedia #ArtHistory #Gospel