What nationality was the surrealist painter René Magritte?

René Magritte was Belgian. Born in Lessines, Belgium, on 21 November 1898, he became one of the defining artists of Belgian Surrealism.

Magritte is famous for placing ordinary objects in impossible or unsettling settings. Paintings such as The Treachery of Images, The Son of Man, and Golconda question how images and words shape our understanding of reality. His style influenced later Pop Art and conceptual art.

A common mix-up is to associate Magritte primarily with France because he spent time in Paris and worked within an international Surrealist network led by André Breton. Magritte nevertheless remained Belgian, and much of his career was based in Brussels. He died there on 15 August 1967.

His nationality also helps distinguish him from other major Surrealists: Salvador Dalí was Spanish, Max Ernst was German, and Man Ray was American. Magritte’s distinctly Belgian identity is central to the history of Belgian Surrealism.