Rene Magritte: Facts and Information

Here are some facts about Rene Magritte, the famous Belgian artist.

Rene Magritte was born on 21st November 1898 in Hainaut, Lessines, Belgium.
He started to have drawing lessons when he was twelve years old.

In 1912, Magritte’s mother drowned in the River Sambre.
Rene Magritte studied at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.
Magritte married Georgette Berger in 1923. Magritte couldn’t afford to paint full-time at this point, and he worked in a wallpaper factory and designed posters.
In 1926, Magritte received a contract from the Galerie le Centaure (Brussels) allowing him to become a full-time artist.
Magritte’s first surreal painting was the The Lost Jockey, completed in 1926.
In 1927, Magritte moved to Paris and became a key member of the Surrealism movement. He was good friends with the artist, Andre Breton, and he knew Joan Miro and Salvador Dali.
In 1929 the Galerie le Centaure closed and Magritte’s contract was terminated. In order to earn money, he started an advertising agency with his brother.
During World War 2, Rene Magritte lived in German-occupied Belgium. He started to paint more upbeat works and dismissed his previous work as being to pessimistic.
In the 1940s Magritte supplemented his income by forging work by famous artists such as Picasso, and then selling the fake works of art. He also experimented with forging banknotes.
Magritte died on 15th August 1967. He was 68 years old and had pancreatic cancer.
Magritte’s work started to become really popular in the 1960s. His paintings have inspired many artists, including: Andy Warhol, Duane Michals and Jasper Johns.
His work often contains everyday objects (such as bowler hats, apples and pipes) in odd and unusual settings. His paintings often include the image of blue cloudy skies.
In 2009 the Magritte Museum opened in Brussels, displaying more than 200 of Magritte’s paintings, including The Empire of Light series and The Return.
His most famous works include: The Son of Man, Golconde and The Mysteries of the Horizon.