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Surrealism

René Magritte

René Magritte (1898–1967) was the Belgian master of Surrealism, who painted everyday objects with deadpan precision to unsettle and puzzle. His bowler hats, pipes and floating apples turned logic on its head.

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1898–1967 · Belgian Surrealist painter

Magritte's witty, philosophical images deeply influenced Pop art, conceptual art and advertising.

From the artist's life

Under a painting of a pipe Magritte wrote This is not a pipe — because it is only an image of one, a riddle about pictures that still fascinates.

Source: Wikipedia / Wikimedia
  • The Belgian master of Surrealism.
  • Painted ordinary objects to unsettle and puzzle.
  • His This Is Not a Pipe became a landmark of modern thought.
Renaissancepainterpaintingmuseum route
Portrait: René Magritte
Paris Musées · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Key works

Where to start

Complete list of key works

Works with a dedicated ArtAtlas page are highlighted in gold.

List checked against Wikidata
  • The Treachery of ImagesOn ArtAtlas
  • The Son of ManOn ArtAtlas
  • GolcondaListed for reference
  • The Empire of LightsListed for reference
  • The Mysteries of the HorizonListed for reference
  • Not to be ReproducedListed for reference
  • The loversListed for reference
  • The PortraitListed for reference
  • The Menaced AssassinListed for reference
  • The Human ConditionListed for reference
  • Time TransfixedListed for reference
  • The Sixteenth of SeptemberListed for reference

1964

The Son of Man

It is a self-portrait: the man in the bowler hat is Magritte himself, though we never see the face.