Who is Rene Magritte?

Rene Magritte (1898-1967) was a Belgian Surrealist painter known for witty, thought-provoking images that challenge perception and question the relationship between objects and their representations. His iconic works include ‘The Treachery of Images’ (a pipe with the text ‘This is not a pipe’), ‘The Son of Man’ (a man with an apple obscuring his face), and ‘Golconda’ (men in bowler hats raining from the sky). Unlike Dali’s dreamscapes, Magritte’s paintings depict ordinary objects in extraordinary juxtapositions, rendered with deliberate plainness that makes their impossibility more striking. His conceptual approach influenced Conceptual Art and Pop Art, and his imagery pervades contemporary advertising and design. Magritte’s philosophical puzzles continue inspiring artists exploring perception and meaning.