René Magritte Exhibition

We wandered around the narrow and winding streets, making our way up to the Monte des Artes to the Magritte Exhibition, which was in a complex known as the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Artes de Belgique. The exhibition was very interesting, and Magritte had a career that started with him creating marketing posters and designing ads, and then evolving into paintings and then film. He was good friends with Salvador Dali, and a number of writers. His work was not always popular with the public or the critics, and his first solo exhibition was savaged by the critics.

His work is known for challenging observers’ preconditioned perceptions of reality. His imagery has influenced pop art, minimalist art and conceptual art. He hung out with André Breton and became a leading member of the Surrealist movement. He also took part in some dodgy activities - he produced fake Picasso’s, Braques and Chiricos and, following WWII, got involved in the printing of forged banknotes. He also had ties to the communist party. Magritte died in 1967. I have picked out a couple of photos from the exhibition as well as his paintings.Read more