Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist who became well-known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images. Hew as born in Lessines, in the province of Hainaut, the eldest son of a tailor and a milliner. Magritte began lessons in drawing in 1910.
Magritte studied at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels for two years until 1918. He worked as an assistant designer in a wallpaper factory and was a poster and advertisement designer until 1926 when a contract with Galerie la Centaure in Brussels made it possible for him to paint full-time. In 1926, Magritte produced his first surreal painting, The Lost Jockey, and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927.
Critics heaped scorn on the exhibition and, depressed by the failure, Magritte moved to Paris. He became friends with Andre Breton and got involved in the surrealist group. When Galerie la Centaure closed and the contract income ended, Magritte returned to Brussels and worked in advertising. His work was exhibited in the United States in New York City in 1936 and again in 1965 and 1992. Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on August 15, 1967 and popular interest in his work rose considerably in the 1960s. His imagery has influenced pop, minimalist, and conceptual art.
