René
Magritte
René Magritte, a master of Surrealism, is known for his witty and thought-provoking works which challenge observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality. If you’re looking for original René Magritte prints and editions for sale or would like to sell, request a complimentary valuation and browse our network’s most in-demand works.
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Biography
Born in 1898 in Lessines, Belgium, René François Ghislain Magritte was the eldest of three boys. His early life was shadowed by tragedy with the speculated suicide of his mother, who drowned under mysterious circumstances when Magritte was very young. This traumatic event is often considered to have influenced his future artworks, many of which feature veiled faces or obscured objects. Magritte studied at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels from 1916 to 1918, where he was introduced to Impressionism and Futurism, but it was the works of Giorgio de Chirico that truly captured his imagination and steered him towards Surrealism.
Following his studies, Magritte initially worked in commercial advertising to support himself while he honed his artistic style. His early work was influenced by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger, but it was in 1926, when he developed his signature style, that Magritte's career began to flourish. This was the year he painted The Lost Jockey (Le Jockey Perdu), which he considered his first Surrealist work.
Throughout the 1930s, Magritte's reputation grew, and he became a leading figure in the Surrealist movement, often challenging and redefining its boundaries. His works from this period, such as The Human Condition, toy with reality and illusion, drawing attention to the divide between the object and its representation.
Magritte's collaborations and friendships with fellow Surrealists like Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, and André Breton were pivotal, and his work was showcased in major Surrealist exhibitions. However, Magritte's relationship with the movement was complex, and he occasionally broke away from its influence to explore other avenues, including a period known as his Renoir Period during the war, which saw him experiment with a more colourful and impressionistic style.
René Magritte passed away in 1967, but his influence on the visual arts and his exploration of the boundary between the visible and the hidden, the conscious and the unconscious, endures.
