大學同學娟上星期到伊利諾香檳分校參加學術會議，議程結束后搭機來芝加哥找我和珍，我們兩人早把這個周末空出來，準備好好招待這位昔日縂在中秋節,從麻豆老家背文旦到臺北給全班同學享用的班代。

娟在馬利蘭大學拿到會計博士學位後就回母校任職，數十年來作育英才無數，現在是臺大管理學院會計系教授，國際事務副院長，以及 Global MBA Program的Director。班上三十幾個同學中，目前有四位在大學任教，兩位在臺灣，兩位在美國，我們年輕時喜歡到公司上班，和同學聊天后發現還是當教授好，退休的待遇優厚好多，而且沒有年齡限制。

難怪老三的同學去年畢業后到密西根安娜堡大學念電腦博士，審查他的教授竟然是當年他爸爸在安娜堡的指導教授，他一嵗時還跟爸爸到過這個教授家烤肉。他爸爸畢業后回韓國首爾大學教電腦，上次來時，兩人一起去拜訪這位教授，還從韓國帶來一張當年的烤肉合照，可見教授真的可以教書到七老八十。

星期六接完機到中國城飲茶，午餐后第一站是參觀芝加哥藝術博物館，這一陣子的特別展覽是專程從歐洲運來的超現實畫家 雷內•馬格利特（René François Ghislain Magritte ）的畫展，畫風非常引人入勝。他所有著名的畫幾乎都囊括在當天的展覽中，真讓我們一飽眼福。

雷內•馬格利特內於1898年在埃諾省萊西恩出生, 1967年8月15日去世，享年六十八嵗。他是比利時超現實主義畫家，因為其超現實主義作品中帶有些許詼諧以及許多引人審思的符號語言而聞名,他的作品對於許多事先設想現實狀況的情況提出挑戰，並且影響今日許多插畫風格。他最出名的作品包括：形象的叛逆，自由之門，戴黑帽的男人，人的境況，親和力，肖像，戈爾康達，刺客的威脅等等。

下面這段訪談和介紹充分説明了他的畫作之所以如此迷人的原因：

When is a kiss not exactly a kiss, a landscape more than just a landscape, or a portrait something, well, surreal? In the world of Belgian painter Rene Magritte, nothing is what it seems.

什麼時候一個吻根本不是吻？一片風景不只是一片風景？或是一幅畫像有點，嗯，超現實的？在比利時畫家雷內˙馬格利特的世界裡，沒有一個東西是它看起來的樣子。

Magritte is all about making pictures that make you think about pictures. He is the artist who looks at ordinary objects but in these extraordinary ways.

馬格利特完全是在畫出讓你思考畫作的作品。他是一名用這些異常方式看待普通物品的藝術家。

Like a fireplace with a locomotive dashing out under full steam, or this portrait of a man made of a bird cage.

就像個有台火車頭火力全開衝出來的壁爐，或這幅一個由鳥籠組成的男子其畫像。

This picture epitomizes sort of the way Magritte creates very clear pictures. And the longer you look, the more you realize that their meaning is absolutely unclear.

這幅畫象徵了幾分馬格利特創作出非常明確畫作的方式。你看得越久，你就越了解它們的含意是完全不清不楚的。

Anne Umland, is the curator of The Mystery of the Ordinary—an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—that focuses on the evolution of Magritte's work from 1926 to 1938.

Anne Umland是「平凡中的不平凡」的策展人－－那是紐約現代藝術博物館的展覽－－聚焦於馬格利特在1926年到1938年間的畫作發展。

It's a time when he makes quantitatively and conceptually more works in more modes, more varieties than he ever had before. It is this period when Magritte becomes Magritte.

這是當他以更多方式、更多變化創作出在數量上及概念上更豐富的作品的時刻，比起他以往所創作的。這是當馬格利特成為馬格利特的期間。

Rene Magritte was born in Lessines, a small town in Belgium, in 1898. Not much is known about his childhood. His father was a textile merchant, and when Magritte was 13, his mother committed suicide.

雷內˙馬格利特出生在Lessines，一個比利時的小鎮，在1898年。人們對他的童年了解不多。他的父親是一名紡織品商人，而當馬格利特十三歲時，他的母親自殺了。

I think what was probably even more impactful on him than the advent of the death itself is that he would remain, when he was a young boy, locked in a room with this depressed woman. Honestly, if you wish to read back into the works, look at the type of spaces Magritte is depicting and think about how claustrophobic they are.

我認為比起死亡本身的到來，對他來說影響更大的是，當他還是小男孩時，他總是和這名抑鬱的女人鎖在房間裡。老實說，如果你想要回去再理解那些作品，看看馬格利特描繪出的空間類型，並想想它們是多麼有幽閉恐懼感的。

In 1927, Magritte joined Andre Breton, Salvador Dali, and other artists in Paris. They became known as the Surrealists, creating unexpected, often dreamlike imagery.

在1927年，馬格利特加入了Andre Breton、Salvador Dali、以及其他在巴黎的藝術家。他們漸漸被稱為超現實主義者，創造出出乎意料、通常像夢一般的圖像。

You both have an image, a self image of Magritte practicing his craft, at the same time as you have an image of his conceptual process, because, the more you look, you realize, of course, he's staring at an egg, but what is he painting? But he's painting a bird.

你有一幅圖像，一幅馬格利特練習他的技巧的自畫像，同時你有他概念流程的圖像，因為，你看得越久，你就會理解，當然，他正盯著一顆蛋，但他在畫什麼？但他在畫一隻鳥。

Challenging the viewer's perception of reality would become Magritte's hallmark. He was something of a paradox. While his works defied convention, there was nothing of the artistic bohemian about him. He often painted in a suit, and was married to the same woman Georgette for 45 years.

挑戰觀眾對現實的理解總是成為馬格利特的特徵。他有點像個自相矛盾的人。儘管他的作品挑戰傳統，他身上卻沒有藝術家的放蕩不羈感。他通常穿著西裝作畫，並娶了相同的女人Georgette四十五年。

Magritte lived a secluded life and died in 1967. But his whimsical, playful, mind-bending images had already been embraced by popular culture. His apple was the inspiration for the Beatles Apple Record logo. And rock album covers mimicked his designs.

馬格利特過著封閉的人生，並在1967年過世。但他那異想天開的、玩笑般的、難以理解的畫作已經受到流行文化的擁護。他的蘋果是披頭四蘋果唱片商標的靈感來源。搖滾專輯的封面也模仿他的設計。

And how about this eye? Look familiar?

那麼這隻眼睛呢？看起來很眼熟嗎？

And someone asked him what he thought about CBS appropriating his painting The False Mirror, or the eye filled with sky.

某人問他，他對CBS電視台剽竊他的畫作〈虛假的鏡子〉或填滿天空的眼睛有什麼想法。

The famous eye was based on his painting.

那知名的眼睛是以他的畫作為基礎。

On his painting. And he sort of felt indifferent about it, because what CBS ended up with was just a symbol on a background. That was aiming to sell something or brand something whereas his painting had no purpose other than poetry.

以他的畫作為基礎。他有點覺得這無關緊要，因為CBS最後得到的只是在一片背景上的象徵圖像。那目標是要賣出某個東西、或是行銷某個東西，而他的畫作除了詩意外沒有其他目的。

Billionaire and avid collector Wilbur Ross understands that poetry. He owns 25 Magrittes.

億萬富翁、熱衷的收藏家Wilbur Ross了解那種詩意。他擁有二十五幅馬格利特的畫作。

Even Andy Warhol had Magritte. I think you can argue that pop art couldn't have occurred without Magritte. Freeing Magritte, who would ever have painted the can of soup can?

就連安迪沃荷也有馬格利特的畫。我想你可以認為沒有馬格利特的話，流行文化就不會出現。除了馬格利特外，還有誰會去畫一個濃湯罐頭？

Is it fair to say you are the world's largest private collector of Magritte?

說你是世界上馬格利特最大宗的私人收藏家也不為過吧？

I don't know, probably the most active one right now.

我不知道，也許是現在最活躍的吧。

Right.

是的。

It's just when you get obsessed, you get obsessed.

就是當你著了迷後，你就沉淪了。

Two of Ross's paintings are on loan to the exhibition, which is the first solo Magritte show in New York City in more than 20 years.

Ross的兩幅畫作出借給展覽，那是紐約在超過二十年後首次馬格利特的個人展。

What do you want people to feel and be left with after the show?

你想要人們在看完展覽後感受到什麼、留下些什麼？

I'd like them to understand what a great modern artist Magritte is. He's always saying a picture is just a picture; an image is not the same as the thing itself.

我想要他們了解馬格利特是個多麼偉大的現代藝術家。他總是說畫作就只是張畫作，但一幅圖像並不是和物品本身一樣的模樣。

In other words, look and think, because in the world of Rene Magritte, everything is open to interpretation.

換句話說，觀看並思考，因為在雷內˙馬格利特的世界，一切都開放解讀。