Une Fois Dans Sa Vie: See “Magritte. La Ligne De Vie” at KMSKA in Antwerp- Now Until Febuary 22, 2026

Photo by Claudia

By CLAUDIA December 17, 2025

I was able to see the exhibition at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) and get a guided tour by Lisa van Gerven, Curator at KMSKA in Brussels and Xavier Canonne, Curator of Magritte: La ligne de vie, and encourage everyone who is able to see it themselves to attend.

Photo by Claudia

It’s truly an amazing exhibition and a once in a lifetime chance to see works from private collections, pieces from all periods of Magritte’s career, and hear his lecture while standing in the very museum he spoke at almost a century ago. While there, definitely see the exhibition “Donas, Archipenko & La Section d’Or. Enchanting Modernism” running until January 11, 2026

Photo by Claudia

A collaboration between the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) and the Fondation René Magritte in Brussels, the exhibition “Magritte. La Ligne de vie," at KMSKA includes approximately ninety of the Belgian artist’s works, on loan from international museums and numerous private collectors, allowing visitors to not only view work from throughout his entire career, but to see pieces that have not been publicly viewed in some cases for over half a century.

Photo by Claudia

The exhibition focuses around the lecture entitled “La Ligne de vie” which Magritte held in Antwerp at the museum in 1938. The lecture is one of the few occasions on which Magritte spoke publicly about his work. Magritte described the evolution of his artistic philosophy, his vision of reality, the origins and development of his art, as well as the history of the Surrealist movement in Belgium.

The exhibition also delves deeper into Magritte as a connecting figure between Surrealism in Antwerp and Brussels. Magritte’s work will be shown alongside his contemporaries including Surrealist poet Marcel Mariën and photographer Léo Dohmen.

Photo by Claudia

Magritte also speaks about the artists who had the greatest influence on him as well as discussing some of his works including a number of which are on view in the exhibition. Walking through the same halls at KMSKA as Magritte while viewing his work hung on the walls while through AI, ‘his’ voice echoes from small speakers sprinkled throughout the exhibition is truly a once in a lifetime experience. See it while you can. The exhibition runs until February 22, 2026.

Photo by Claudia

The exhibition runs in parallel with the show Donas, Archipenko & La Section d’Or. Enchanting Modernism, which focuses on Marthe Donas and her work with Alexander Archipenko. Both exhibitions represent two different directions within modernism. While Magritte did originally experiment with abstraction, he abandoned it to pursue painting ideas, more than emotions.

Photo by Claudia

The exhibition illustrates how important this lecture was for the Antwerp Surrealist scene. Artists such as Mariën and Léo Dohmen, who would later help shape post-war Surrealism in Flanders, found a guide in Magritte. His lecture at the KMSKA marks a turning point where Magritte presents himself not only as an artist but also as an intellectual. His somewhat cold, graphic approach stands in stark contrast to the dreamlike nature of French Surrealism and sets the tone for a distinctive Belgian variant, in which mystery is hidden within the ordinary.

Photo by Claudia

“In this exhibition, "Magritte. La ligne de vie", you will discover a selection of works that were also highlighted during his lecture, and begin to learn more about Magritte’s desire to paint ideas after his initial experiments with abstraction. The exhibition also delves deeper into Magritte as a connecting figure between Surrealism in Antwerp and Brussels. Magritte’s work will be shown alongside his contemporaries including Surrealist poet Marcel Mariën and photographer Léo Dohmen.” -KMSKA

Guided tours are available for 1.5 hours at 95 euros a person. I do recommend doing the tour if possible.

Hardcover books are available of both exhibitions here:
https://www.kmskashop.be/en/books/others/