Orazio Borgianni Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1578-1616 magritte Rene Francois Ghislain Magritte (21 November 1898 -- 15 August 1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images. His intended goal for his work was to challenge observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality and force viewers to become hypersensitive to their surroundings.