René Magritte’s paintings of clouds, hats, pipes and apples are among the most recognisable images of surrealism. Renowned for his deadpan, realist style, the Belgian artist depicted ordinary objects and everyday settings, revealing them to be more mysterious and enchanting than we could ever have imagined.

Magritte is an in-depth retrospective featuring more than 100 works, most of which have never before been seen in Australia. It journeys from the artist’s first avant-garde explorations and commercial works in the 1920s, to his groundbreaking contributions to surrealism, his surprising provocations of the 1940s, and the renowned paintings of his final years, before his death in 1967.

Encounter iconic paintings that highlight Magritte’s profound influence on contemporary visual culture, and discover rarely seen works that reveal his subversive sense of humour and the fierce independence of his artistic vision.

The associated publication features reproductions of the works in the exhibition alongside essays that consider Magritte’s capacity for innovation and reinvention, the social and artistic context of his practice, and his remarkable use of the absurd.

The exhibition has been organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales with the close co-operation of the Magritte Foundation, Brussels and in cooperation with the Menil Collection, Houston. It has been made possible with the support of the NSW Government through Create NSW’s Blockbusters Funding initiative and its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. Along with Cao Fei, also at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Julie Mehretu, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Magritte is part of the Sydney International Art Series, bringing the world’s most outstanding exhibitions to Australia, exclusively to Sydney.