René Magritte was one of the leading and most recognised proponents of Belgian Surrealism. His early work was influenced by Dadaism, Cubism and Futurism. In Paris, he associated with André Breton and Paul Eluard, and soon belonged to the inner circle of Surrealists, along with Max Ernst, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp. In his distinctive style, Magritte displayed persons and objects in a realistic manner, yet removed from their everyday context and presented in surprising new constellations. He thus challenged the viewers' established optical perception. Magritte's works were shown in numerous major Surrealist art exhibitions.
"The word 'dream' is often misused to describe my painting. My works do not belong to the world of dreams, on the contrary. If one can speak of dreams in this context, these dreams are quite different from those we have when we are asleep. Rather, they are voluntary dreams in which nothing is as vague as the feelings we have when we seek refuge in sleep. Dreams that are not intended to lull us to sleep, but to wake us up."– René Magritte