Belgium will celebrate the 100th anniversary of surrealism in 2024, and a major exhibition will be held at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts.

From February 21, 2024, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB) will be hosting a new traveling exhibition entitled “Imagine!” This exhibition, organized in parallel with the Center Pompidou in Paris, commemorates its 100th anniversary.^thAnniversary of the birth of surrealism.

In the exclusive atmosphere of the Royal Palaces district of Brussels, Imagine! invites visitors to immerse themselves in this 20 world.^th Through the works of such luminaries as Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, Dorothea Manning, and Man Ray, it influenced not only the art movements of the century, but also the world of dreams, the unknown, and the subconscious. .

From symbolism to surrealism

Each of the 100th Anniversary of Surrealism exhibitions (scheduled to take place at the Stedelijk Museum Hamburg, the Fondation Mapfrey in Madrid, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art) will each present a unique piece of the puzzle. In Brussels, that means a special focus on the symbiotic relationship between symbolism and surrealism.

Since 1880, the museum points out, Brussels has been an extraordinary center for art and the avant-garde. These artists, as their name suggests, were ahead of their time and “highly anticipated the emergence of the Surrealist movement. A few decades later, Brussels became the center of Belgian Surrealism.” Despite the cultural rupture caused by World War I, the old Symbolists and the emerging youth were never fundamentally alienated from each other.

A year worthy of being in the spotlight

Featuring over 130 works of art, ranging from paintings and works on paper to sculptures, objects, assemblages and photographs, the exhibition aims to “understand the importance of this movement for Belgium and its European context. The museum explains that it is intended to introduce “the importance of the work.” Noting that Belgium is preparing to preside over the Council of the European Union in 2024, the museum said: “It seems the right year to shine a spotlight on Surrealism.”

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium is a group of six museums, consisting of the Old Masters Museum, the Magritte Museum, the Fin de l’Essie Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Antoine Wierz Museum, and the Constantin Meunier Museum, each of which has a collection of approximately 20,000 works of art. doing. they.

It is Belgium’s most popular art institution, and its numbers have skyrocketed since the opening of the Magritte Museum in the heart of Brussels’ Royal Palace district in 2008, demonstrating the enduring global popularity of the Surrealist movement.

A standard adult admission ticket costs 18 euros. If you have proof of eligibility, you will receive a discount. Business hours are 10am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday and 11am to 6pm on weekends.

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Together with Imagine! The exhibition will also be on view from February 21, 2024 at the beautiful Beaux-Arts Museum nearby. history history (While holding back a laugh) It delves into the more political side of Belgian Surrealism through artists who wanted to “change the world with subversive art.” The scene’s international connections, political and historical context, and important women artists will all be part of the curation.

You must select a time slot to visit the show. Bozar’s hours of operation are Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed on Mondays. Standard entrance fee is 18 euros. Shared tickets and benefits are also available.