Musée Magritte on Place Royale, Brussels during its renovation
Belgium’s best-loved surrealist artist was René Magritte, who lived and painted in suburban Jette, northwest of Brussels city center; he was extraordinarily prolific during a career that began in 1916 and ended with his death in 1967. Many of his most famous works are on display in the spectacular Musée Magritte, which is the best place to see the works of Magritte in Brussels.
Opened in 2009, the Musée Magritte is just off the Place Royale and comes under the banner of the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, which has several prestigious collections including fabulous works by Bosch, Breugel, Rubens and Cranach in the Musée Oldmasters. Magritte’s work is located in the Hôtel Altenloh, a Neo-classical mansion that dates from 1779 and connected by underground passageway to the main building of the adjoining Musées Royaux. As the largest collection of his works in the world, 200 of his highly stylized, eccentric and surreal paintings, sketches and engravings – many featuring those iconic apples and bowler hats – are displayed chronologically alongside musical scores and personal photos; key works include “The Dominion of Light” and ‘The Domain of Arnheim,” both executed late in his career. There’s a short film about his life, painting workshops and plenty of informative interactive screens dotted around the exhibition rooms.
Hardened Magritte fans can take Métro 6 to Belgica to visit his house in Jette, which is now a private museum maintained as if he had just popped out to the shopping and provides a rare and intimate glimpse into his career and lifestyle. It’s certainly not plush, you have to knock to gain entrance and most of the 19 rooms on view are protected with glass screens but visitors are transported straight back to the 1950s. The dining room-cum-studio where many of Magritte’s bizarre masterpieces were created is on view, along with his easel and trademark bowler hat. On the higher floors of the house are a few of his sketches, letters and photographs as well as temporary exhibitions including rare works not often seen in public.
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