While Braque challenged the need to be figurative, De Chirico questioned the need for meaning altogether.
Indeed, until then, most art had "made sense".
No matter who the artist was, the viewer would have immediately had a sense of what they were trying to represent.
But unlike previous artists, De Chirico was not interested in representing something that was readily accessible.
His paintings act as puzzles - distorting time and space and challenging the viewer to find meaning in them.
For Magritte, seeing De Chirico's paintings was like "seeing thought for the first time".
The painting is a homage to the poet Guillaume Apollinaire.
Indeed, De Chirico had recently moved to Paris and wanted to thank the poet for his support.
The sculpture represents the mythical Greek poet Orpheus.
Fun fact : can you spot the white circle on the shadow in the painting?
That exact spot was where Apollinaire was wounded during the First World War.
This led some to believe that the painting had eerie premonitory powers...
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