Magritte's Concept of Time
"Day and Night" of Magritte represents not just 24 consecutive hours but is simultaneous

The Empire of Lights by R.Magritte

The Empire of Lights shows a house at night surrounded by trees. The only bewildering element about this peacefully idyllic scene is the surprising fact that it has been placed under the clouds of a light blue daylight sky. This demonstrates Magritte's amazing skill in combining seemingly disparate elements by simultaneously showing two states that are mutually exclusive in time. One possible explanation for this contradiction might be found in Genesis 1, with which Magritte was, surely, familiar. Verse 1:2 states: "When God began to create the heaven and earth - the earth being unformed and void... ." Considering Magritte's philosophical proclivity, it may be assumed that in The Empire of Lights he has described the last second before Creation, i.e. when "...the earth being unformed..." and Day and Night could live in harmony together. Additional support comes from Rashi, the greatest Bible commentator. "God saw that light was good... ." (Genesis 1:4). According to Rashi: "God saw that it is good, and that it is not appropriate that darkness and light should be mixed; he fixed the light for the day and the darkness for the night."
The Empire of Lights demonstrates, "creatively" one might say, the phenomenon of the twenty-four hour day-and-night cycle. In other words, art serves to illustrate scientific concepts even when abstruse and seemingly incomprehensible.