In Brussels the surreal works of artist René Magritte have come alive. Rosie Khdir takes a wander around the Musée Magritte.

Men in bowler hats raining from the sky, paintings within paintings, giants eggs in cages, slices of ham with eyes, concealed faces? These are just some of the dream-like creations by René Magritte.

Magritte was born in the Hainaut, in 1898 and by 1914 had moved to the capital to study at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He started out as a poster designer but in 1926, after being inspired by The Song of Love by Giorgio de Chirico, he created his first surreal artwork, The Lost Jockey.

Following lots of negative press about his exhibition held in Brussels in 1927 Magritte moved to Paris and became involved in the surrealist group. As the recession hit in 1929, Magritte returned to Brussels and set up an advertising agency with his brother.

Throughout the 1930s, Magritte was very productive. He had his very own show in New York in 1936 and then later one at The London Gallery. This decade is where Magritte produces many of his infamous surrealist pieces such as The False Mirror (1935), The Human Condition series (1933, 1935) and Not to be reproduced (1937).

The Museé Magritte celebrates the life of this influential artist and his contributions to the art world today. It contains over 200 works including in oils on canvas, gouaches, drawings, sculptures , painted objects, advertising posters, music scores, vintage photographs and films all produced by Magritte.

The exhibition is spread out in three levels of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium located at the Place Royale. Each level focuses on a different time period in his life; the first floor dates from 1898 to 1929 and is centred on early years, his marriage to Georgette Berger, his involvement in the Brussels surrealist group and his life in Paris.

The second floor looks at his self professed “Idiotic Work”, his life in Brussels, his experiences with Communism during the war, Surrealism in full Sunlight and the “vache” period. The third floor takes a look at The Enchanted Domain which encompasses his entire painterly universe. He also explored the medium of film in his later years and this part of the exhibit takes a look at the short films he made between the years 1956 and 1960.

This exhibition takes you on a journey through the mind of a man who created dreams on a canvas. Magritte once said:

“To be a surrealist means barring from your mind all remembrance of what you have seen, and being always on the lookout for what has never been.”

You will see that his works are definitely sights that have never been seen, they evoke curiosity and awe in everyone and are definitely worth a peek. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. Check the website for holiday opening times.

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Image credit: oddsock

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