I went. It has all of his famous pieces except for "The Son of Man" (the one with the apple in front of the man's face) which is privately owned, if one can privately own an iconic painting, and "Empire of Lights" which actually is there, but downstairs on permanent display in the main gallery. He was at one time my favorite painter and had an influence on my writing, but my tastes have moved to the minimal and geometric. I think the show had too much Magritte, actually. His work takes time to process--the images, the ideas, and especially the titles--and so many pieces together meant one has to sample, and not savor, each one.
One thing I had failed to notice before is how amateur a painter he was. I don't mean this as a negative thing. But the lines and colors and figures are simple. I think the exhibition makes note of this somewhere. One of my favorite pieces from the show, and one I had never seen before, was a piece called "Nocturne" made of ripped sheet music around which he painted spindly black trees without leaves. I can't find a picture of it online. It is one of his earliest works.
Go see it if you can. It'll probably be the only time I see "The Human Condition" or "The Treachery of Images" in person. Despite being such a famous artist, his work is difficult to find in museums.
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