Empire of Light, created by René Magritte between 1953 and 1954, is intriguing in that the ornate lighted house is surrounded by night, but out of reality, a bright sky full of white clouds appears above the house and the woods.

René Magritte reverses the common sense of life, in which sunlight, usually the source of brightness, causes the confusion and disquiet that traditionally accompanies darkness. The light in the sky becomes unsettling as a result, which makes the hollow darkness below seem even more elusive than usual.

Dealing with grotesque subjects in an impersonal, precise manner is typical of the Surrealist style of painting, and one that Magritte has favored since the mid-1920s.