this is rene magritte's le double secret painted in 1927. the surrealists understood perhaps better than any group that man is like an iceberg of which only a small part is visible in the light of the conscious mind, the rest of which is submerged moved, and guided by darker currents of the human subconscious. the problem was how to find ways into the subconscious how to release the spontaneous flow of imagery that would be as unsettling as the chance encounter of an umbrella and a sewing machine on a dissecting table. andre breton advocated two routes into the marvelous-- through dreams and automatism. influenced by psychoanalytical theory breton decreed that subconscious images could only become available if the oppressive control of reason was evaded. the transcription of dreams attracted the so-called "painter" painters such as rene magritte and salvador dali. dali's painting, soft construction with boiled beans-- a premonition of civil war seems to embody his ambition to visualize images of complete irrationality with incredible precisi