Rene Magritte was born on 21st November 1898 in Hainaut, Lessines, Belgium.

He started to have drawing lessons when he was twelve years old.

Rene Magritte studied at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

Magritte married Georgette Berger in 1923. Magritte couldn’t afford to paint full-time at this point, and he worked in a wallpaper factory and designed posters.

Magritte died on 15th August 1967. He was 68 years old and had pancreatic cancer.

Magritte’s work started to become really popular in the 1960s. His paintings have inspired many artists, including: Andy Warhol, Duane Michals and Jasper Johns.

His work often contains everyday objects (such as bowler hats, apples and pipes) in odd and unusual settings. His paintings often include the image of blue cloudy skies.

He was a surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images. Often depicting ordinary objects in an unusual context, his work is known for challenging observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.