Brussels celebrates Magritte on 50th anniversary of painter's death

Brussels is marking the 50th anniversary of René Magritte's death with a year-long celebration of his life and work. A brochure on Magritte-related locations and events has been published, as well as a mini-map with a surrealism walking route.

Speaking of surrealism, Brussels has two different Magritte museums with practically the same name. One is in the centre of Brussels with the world's richest collection of his work in all the media he worked in: paintings, watercolours, drawings, sculpture, painted objects, advertising posters, sheet music and film.

The other museum is in the northwest borough of Jette and is the house he lived in for 24 years, in the dining room of which he painted most of his most famous works.

A visitor to the house and neighbourhood will recognise many elements in his paintings. He was also a fervent left-winger and with his circle of friends he held weekly meetings at his house where they would produce subversive books, magazines and pamphlets, many of which are on display.

On the walking tour are a couple of Magritte's favorite haunts. La Fleur en Papier Doré, opened by a Brussels anarchist poet and which became a major gathering place for the surrealists and then welcomed people such as Pierre Alechinsky, Jacques Brel and Hergé, has maintained its charm and quirkiness - decorated with objects and messages left by its illustrious patrons. The other is the Greenwich Café, now splendidly restored, where he first tried to sell his paintings.

For cemetery aficionados a visit to the Schaerbeek cemetery in Evere will be rewarded by not only the graves of many surrealists including Magritte and his wife but also a remarkable array of funerary monuments.

This autumn, along with special exhibitions in the two Magritte Museums there will be "Atomium meets Surrealism" at the Atomium where some of Magritte's most prominent and sensational works will be brought to life.

www.visit.brussels/magritte