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René Magritte

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born

November 21, 1898 in Lessines, Hainaut, Belgium

died

August 15, 1967

gender

male

genre

Arts & Photography

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

Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. In 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water. The image of his mother floating, her dress obscuring her face, may have influenced a 1927–1928 series of paintings of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants, but Magritte disliked this explanation. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two ye...more René François Ghislain Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images.

Magritte was born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, in 1898, the eldest son of Léopold Magritte, a tailor, and Adeline, a milliner. He began lessons in drawing in 1910. In 1912, his mother committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Sambre. Magritte was present when her body was retrieved from the water. The image of his mother floating, her dress obscuring her face, may have influenced a 1927–1928 series of paintings of people with cloth obscuring their faces, including Les Amants, but Magritte disliked this explanation. He studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. In 1922 he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met in 1913.

Magritte worked as an assistant designer in a wallpaper factory, and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926, when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey (Le jockey perdu), and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927. Critics heaped abuse on the exhibition. Depressed by the failure, he moved to Paris where he became friends with André Breton, and became involved in the surrealist group.

When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, he returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. Then, with his brother, he formed an agency, which earned him a living wage.

Surrealist patron Edward James allowed Magritte, in the early stages of his career, to stay rent free in his London home and paint. James is featured in two of Magritte's pieces, Le Principe du Plaisir (The Pleasure Principle) and La Reproduction Interdite.

During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he remained in Brussels, which led to a break with Breton. At the time he renounced the violence and pessimism of his earlier work, though he returned to the themes later.

His work was exhibited in the United States in New York in 1936 and again in that city in two retrospective exhibitions, one at the Museum of Modern Art in 1965, and the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1992.

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on August 15, 1967 and was interred in Schaarbeek Cemetery, Brussels.

Popular interest in Magritte's work rose considerably in the 1960s, and his imagery has influenced pop, minimalist and conceptual art. In 2005 he came 9th in the Walloon version of De Grootste Belg (The Greatest Belgian); in the Flemish version he was 18th.(less)

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Books by René Magritte

Average rating: 3.98 · 675 ratings · 45 reviews · 24 distinct works

	Magritte by René Magritte, Alain Robbe-Grillet (Introduction) 4.39 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 1972 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Magritte: 1898-1998 by René Magritte, Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque, David Sylvester 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1998	My rating:
	MAGRITTE CROWN ART LIB by René Magritte, Bernard Noël 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1989	My rating:
	Magritte/Torczyner: Letters Between Friends by René Magritte, Harry Torczyner 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1994	My rating:
	Magritte by René Magritte, Michel Foucault (Contributor), Domenico Quaranta (Editor) 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2004	My rating:
	Rene Magritte 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1972 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Photographies De Magritte 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1982	My rating:
	Scritti by René Magritte, A. Blavier (Editor), Libero Sosio (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2003	My rating:
	Magritte 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1979 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Magritte [Catalogue of an Exhibition of Paintings by René Magritte, 1898-1967, Organized by the Arts Council at the Tate Gallery, 14 February to 2 April 1969] by René Magritte, David Sylvester 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1969	My rating:

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Quotes by René Magritte

“Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well....”
― René Magritte

tags: art , philosophy

24 people liked it

“This is not a pipe.”
― René Magritte

12 people liked it

“Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist”
― René Magritte

tags: art

9 people liked it

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René's Fans (8)

René Magritte

Author profile

combine editionsBooks by René Magritte

Quotes by René Magritte

combine editions
Books by René Magritte