A significant survey of René Magritte’s work is set to open in London tomorrow, marking the 90th anniversary of surrealism’s major debut in the capital.
The exhibition, titled This Is Still Not a Pipe: The Afterlife of Magritte, will run at the Gagosian gallery on Grosvenor Hill from 24 September to 12 December 2026. The show explores the Belgian artist’s enduring influence on contemporary art and his career-long subversion of reality.
The exhibition is free to the public and typically does not require advance booking, offering a rare opportunity to view major surrealist works without an admission fee.
The show’s timing coincides with the 90th anniversary of the landmark 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition, which first introduced the movement to a British audience. Among the highlights is the 1936 painting La Lampe philosophique (The Philosopher’s Lamp), a significant museum loan that depicts a man with a nose extended into his own pipe, reflecting Magritte’s career-long interest in the relationship between objects and their representations.
Visitor Information
The exhibition is located at 20 Grosvenor Hill, London W1K 3QD. It is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday, between 10am and 6pm.
The gallery is approximately a ten-minute walk from Bond Street and Oxford Circus stations. According to Time Out, the exhibition is one of the most significant free cultural events in the capital this autumn.
Contemporary Legacy
Beyond Magritte’s own canvases, the exhibition illustrates how his visual language continues to shape modern aesthetics.
While Magritte’s work is generally considered visually accessible and suitable for families, the survey is not a traditional retrospective but rather a career-spanning study of how Magritte’s “afterlife” remains present in the art world nearly 60 years after his death.