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Victoria Souliman, Lecturer, French and Francophone Studies, University of Sydney

‘Consciousness, rationality and the search for meaning’: how René Magritte led the Belgian surrealist movement

René Magritte ‘Golconda (Golconde)’ 1953, oil on canvas, 80 x 100.3 cm, The Menil Collection, Houston, V 414 © Copyright Agency, Sydney 2024, photo: Paul Hester

René Magritte is renowned for his humorous yet enigmatic art, foremost of which is the iconic bowler-hatted man. But despite his significant contribution to Surrealism – and the fame of his works – the evolution of his artistic practice isn’t widely known.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Magritte exhibit marks the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in Australia, opening almost exactly 100 years after André Breton published the first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924.

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