The 5 best places to discover René Magritte in Brussels

The Magritte Museum opened in 2009 in an impressive neoclassical building on Place Royale. It’s a fascinating collection that includes photographs, amateur film footage and surrealist ephemera.

This is not the Magritte Museum. This is the house in Jette where René and Georgette lived from 1930 to 1957. The great Belgian surrealist created some of the most startling images in modern art in the kitchen of this modest home. It was bought by two art enthusiasts and restored to its original state.

Magritte liked this old creaky bar where local men gather to play chess. The cafe closed in 2011 to allow the architects Robbrecht & Daem to renovate the belle époque interior. Some say it has lost its old charm, but it is still a gorgeous interior.

Magritte is rumoured to have sold his first painting to one of the regulars in this ancient bohemian cafe. The three tiny rooms are filled with old furniture, murky paintings and cryptic writings. You won’t find anything by Magritte, but go through to the back room to admire the enlarged photograph showing Magritte along with other regulars standing outside the cafe.

Magritte died in 1967 while living at the Rue des Mimosas in Schaerbeek. He was buried in Schaerbeek Cemetery under a plain stone slab, located in plot 16, row 2. His fans sometimes leave curious objects on the grave.