Gagosian will present a major exhibition examining the lasting influence of René Magritte on contemporary art during Frieze London 2026.
Opening at the gallery’s Grosvenor Hill space, This Is Still Not a Pipe: The Afterlife of Magritte brings together significant paintings, works on paper, sculpture and photography spanning Magritte’s career alongside works by contemporary artists, including newly commissioned pieces created especially for the exhibition.
Drawing on loans from museums and private collections, the exhibition features many of Magritte’s most iconic motifs—from apples, pipes and bowler hats to the artist’s dreamlike cotton-cloud skies—while exploring how his visual language continues to shape artistic practice nearly six decades after his death.
Rather than presenting a traditional retrospective, the exhibition positions Magritte as a living presence within contemporary art, tracing his influence across multiple generations of artists. The full list of participating contemporary artists will be announced in the coming months.
The exhibition also marks two significant anniversaries: twenty years since Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the first major exhibition to explore the Belgian Surrealist’s impact on post-war artists, and ninety years since London’s landmark International Surrealist Exhibition of 1936, which helped establish Magritte’s international reputation.
Among the highlights is La Lampe philosophique (The Philosopher’s Lamp) (1936), widely regarded as one of Magritte’s most conceptually rich paintings. Featuring the artist’s elongated nose transformed into a pipe, the work encapsulates his lifelong fascination with paradox, language and perception.
Larry Gagosian said:
“It is difficult to imagine a world today without Magritte. Almost six decades after his death, his influence continues to resonate within contemporary artistic production, and beyond into the broader landscape of visual culture—shaping advertising, design, fashion, and even music.”
Curated by Jasper Sharp and Bernard Lagrange in collaboration with Charly Herscovici, president of the Fondation Magritte, the exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.
Opening just as collectors, curators and visitors descend on London for Frieze Week, This Is Still Not a Pipe promises to be one of the season’s standout exhibitions, reconsidering Magritte not simply as a Surrealist master, but as one of the defining influences on contemporary visual culture.
THIS IS STILL NOT A PIPE: THE AFTERLIFE OF MAGRITTE, September 24th –December 12th, 2026, Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill
Opening reception: Thursday, September 24th, 6PM–8PM
