Magritte
René Magritte (1898–1967) was a Belgian surrealist painter whose meticulously realistic style produced images that challenge perceptions of reality and language. Born in Lessines, Belgium, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and became associated with the Surrealist movement in the 1920s, spending time in Paris and Brussels. His work frequently places ordinary objects in unfamiliar contexts to reveal the gap between representation and meaning.
Magritte’s best-known works include The Treachery of Images (1929), which features a pipe beneath the caption
Magritte’s ideas about representation, language, and perception influenced later movements such as conceptual and pop art.