Time Transfixed is an oil on canvas

Oil painting

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...

 painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte

René Magritte

René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...

. It is part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...

 and is usually on display in the museum's new Modern Wing, though currently it is on loan to the Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporation...

 as part of their Magritte exhibition.

The painting was one of many done for surrealist patron and Magritte supporter Edward James

Edward James

Edward William Frank James was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.-Early life and marriage:...

. This was the second painting delivered to James for his London ballroom. The first was the portrait of James, Not to be Reproduced

Not to be Reproduced

Not to be Reproduced is a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It currently is owned by the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam....

. Time Transfixed was purchased by the Art Institute from James in 1970 when he was raising capital to build his surrealist sculpture garden Las Pozas.

The painting depicts a "Black Five"

LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0

The London Midland and Scottish Railway's Class 5 4-6-0, almost universally known as the Black Five, is a class of steam locomotive. It was introduced by William Stanier in 1934 and 842 were built between then and 1951...

 locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

 jutting out of a fireplace

Fireplace

A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...

, at full speed, in an empty room. Only the clock and left candlestick are reflected in the mirror

Mirror

A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...

on the mantle, suggesting that there are neither people nor furniture in the room. Notably, the candlestick on the right has no reflection.

The artist's perspective

The title of the painting translates to English literally as "Ongoing Time Stabbed by a Dagger" and Magritte was reportedly unhappy with the generally accepted translation of "Time Transfixed". Magritte hoped that James would hang the painting at the base of his staircase so that the train would "stab" guests on their way up to the ballroom. James instead chose to hang the painting above his own fireplace.

Magritte described his motivation for this painting:

"I decided to paint the image of a locomotive . . . In order for its mystery to be evoked, another immediately familiar image without mystery—the image of a dining room fireplace—was joined."