Spotlight On: René Magritte
11 June 2025
Surrealist artist René Magritte (1898-1967) had a unique ability to take something ordinary and make people see it in different and unexpected ways – asking questions about nature and the boundaries of reality. 'Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes' (until 7 September 2025) includes two fascinating works by him.
Magritte was born and died in the Belgian city of Brussels and was one of the most prominent Surrealist painters of the 1900s. His works 'blended horror, peril, comedy and mystery'. He used symbols or day-to-day objects in unusual or unsettling situations such as female torsos, bowler hats, castles, windows, rocks and apples.
He studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from 1916–1918 and then became a wallpaper designer and illustrator. In 1926, he signed a contract with an art gallery and held his first solo show there a year later. He and his wife moved to Paris in 1927 where he met and became friends with a number of Surrealists, including André Breton. Three years later, Magritte and his wife returned to Brussels, where he lived for the rest of his life, exhibiting internationally from the late 1930s.
If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.
René Magritte
There are two paintings by Magritte in the 'Forbidden Territories' exhibition.
La Condition Humaine, 1935
La Condition Humaine is the first painting many of you will see when you begin your journey around the show. It's from Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery's art collection and is the fourth of four works Magritte made with this title. It shows a painting within a painting - one of his favourite themes. An unframed artwork is shown on an easel in which has been placed in front of a landscape viewed through the entrance to a cave - but does the castle in the painting represent what lies behind it, or is it hiding something else?
The Flavour of Tears (The Taste of Sorrow), 1948
You can see this work in the second gallery that 'Forbidden Territories' is presented in at The Box. This section of the show is called 'Biomorphic Natures' and explores the fascination many Surrealists have had or do have with botanical studies and the natural world.
In The Flavour of Tears (The Taste of Sorrow) from The Barber Institute of Fine Arts’ collection a sorrowful-looking bird takes the form of a tobacco leaf which is being consumed by a caterpillar in front of a curtain – a device that blurs the line between the outside and inside. In day-to-day life, the bird would be much more likely to eat the caterpillar.
To see these works on display, alongside paintings, sculptures and more by some of the most famous artists of the 20th century visit ‘Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes’ before the end of Sunday 7 September. The exhibition is open from 10am-5pm Tuesday-Sunday and August Bank Holiday Monday. Entry is free and there's no need to book.