The period in Jette (1930-1954)
Although he originally came from the Province of Hainaut, Magritte spent most of his life in Brussels where he occupied, from 1915 to his death in 1967 no less than seven different places. When he settled there, together with his wife Georgette at the age of 31, he was appreciated and supported by a few initiates only and had to devote much time, besides his painting, to advertising jobs. 24 years later a recognised artist left the place, who was soon to be consecrated for his work.
In between he had produced at the rue Esseghem almost half of his work with the support of surrealist friends who will use his house as their general headquarter. During this period, Magritte achieved original experimentations on the colours and the forms, which define his "période vache" or his "Renoir period". He conceived and published brochures such as
"La carte d'après nature". He also produced, at the rue Esseghem, paintings that would soon count among his greatest masterpieces such as
"L'empire des lumières",
"La condition humaine" or
"La durée poignardée".
