Free Magritte Show Brings Sarah Lucas and Matthew Barney to London

A free Magritte exhibition opens at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill in London, pairing surrealist loans with new works by Sarah Lucas and Matthew Barney.

Time Out London reports that a free René Magritte exhibition opens in the capital next week, taking place at Gagosian Grosvenor Hill under the title 'This Is Still Not a Pipe: The Afterlife of Magritte'. According to Time Out, the show will feature major Magritte works depicting his famous apples, hats, pipes and clouds, while also examining his enduring legacy through new works by contemporary artists. The Guardian's weekly art dispatch names it 'Exhibition of the week', calling the show an exploration of the confounding, mind-boggling genius of Magritte through remarkable loans of his paintings plus contemporary responses. The exhibition runs from 24 September until 12 December, and Time Out notes it will include paintings, works on paper, sculptures and photography spanning the surrealist's four-decade career.

Time Out reports that many pieces have been loaned by museums and private collectors, including 'La Lampe philosophique (The Philosopher's Lamp)' (1936), which was displayed in a landmark Magritte exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) 20 years ago. According to Time Out, the painting was made shortly before the International Surrealist Exhibition that took place in London in 1936, which featured a gouache of the same image — a detail that gives the 2026 show a quietly circular, historically rooted London homecoming. The Guardian's coverage highlights 'La Voix du sang' by Magritte as its featured image, crediting the photograph to Fredrik Nilsen Studio. These loans mean devoted readers will be able to see a dense gathering of signature Magritte motifs without paying admission, which is unusual for a commercial gallery show of this scale.

The Guardian reports that contemporary artists including Sarah Lucas and Matthew Barney have created works specifically for the exhibition, which will be displayed alongside the Magrittes — an explicit framing of the Belgian painter as a living force rather than a museum fixture. Time Out quotes gallery owner Larry Gagosian: '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.' Gagosian adds that he is delighted to be presenting the work once again and to offer audiences a renewed opportunity to engage with 'the poetry, wit, and mystery that define his vision'. The Guardian's verdict that the surrealist 'still confounds' is its own editorial reading of why the show matters now.

The Guardian's weekly dispatch places the Magritte show inside a crowded London season: Rachel Kneebone's porcelain sculptures, described as crazed reworkings of Rococo delights, open at the Wallace Collection from 23 September until 25 April, while Gabriel Orozco's retrospective at White Cube Bermondsey — famous for cutting open and remaking a Citroën DS — runs until 8 November. The Guardian also flags Amar Kanwar's films at Serpentine North Gallery from 23 September until 31 January, and Luke Jerram's 'Pollenarium' installation by the Thames, which gives visitors a bee's eye view of the world to highlight that pollinator numbers, per the Guardian, have declined by 60% in 20 years.