Yesterday's Sotheby's auction in London saw an expected auction record for René Magritte. The 59,422,000 pounds exceeded the estimated price by about 15 million pounds. The Belgian painter's market value is now being redefined, as the new record is about three times the previous high set in 2018.
The painting L'empire des lumières from 1961 shows the house of the Gillion Crowet family, in whose collection it has been since then. It was a gift from Magritte, who was friends with Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet, whom he considered an ideal muse. Now, for the first time, the surrealist work was offered at auction. With the paradoxical combination of daytime sky and nighttime atmosphere in and around the house, Magritte created a dreamlike scene with simple means.
Other highlights of the auction included Vincent van Gogh's A Pair of Lovers (Eglogue en Provence), which sold for about £10 million, David Hockney's Garrowby Hill for about £14 million, and Claude Monet's Nymphéas for circa £23.2 million. The total sale value of the auction is about 192.16 million pounds.
