The Belgian artist René Magritte counts among the most famous surrealist artists. At first René Magritte was active as a commercial artist before he joined the circle of Surrealists. Paintings by René Magritte are striking in terms of their remarkable precision, which calls reminiscence of the old masters, as well as their profoundness. René Magritte artistically questions reality in his paintings, by presenting the observer dream-like illusions, that supply the observer with food for thought. Additionally they give impulse, to think, for instance, about the question whether the observer sees the pipe or the image of a pipe ("The Treachery of Images", around 1929). Besides paintings, he also created a graphic oeuvre that is both sensitive and profound.
René Magritte was honored in numerous retrospectives in his lifetime. Up until today his pictures have an extraordinary fascinating power, which can be experienced in , for instance, the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Art Institute of Chicago.