Media reported on the possible sale of Magritte's painting for a record $95 million
A rare painting from the series "Empire of Light" by Belgian artist René Magritte may be sold at Christie's auction in New York for a record $95 million this fall. This was reported by CNN on Sunday, September 22.
"The Surrealist icon is perhaps the finest, most skillfully executed and mesmerizingly beautiful of the entire series <...> it is perfect," said Christie's vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art Max Carter.
"Empire of Light" (1954) was a series of 27 paintings in which Magritte explored light, depicting a sun-drenched sky over a dark street scene. The auctioned painting was previously in the private collection of interior designer Mika Ertegun, now deceased.
Other works to be offered for sale from her collection include works by famous artists such as Joan Miró, David Hockney, and a Polaroid photograph of Ertegun herself by Andy Warhol. The auction will take place on Nov. 19 in New York.
In 2022, another work from the "Empire of Light" series was sold for about $79.7 million at a Sotheby's auction in London, the TV channel specifies.
Earlier, April 24, it was reported that the last work of the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Fräulein Lieser", which was considered lost since the mid-1920s, went under the hammer for € 30 million, excluding commission. The painting that went under the hammer is a commissioned portrait from 1917 that depicts one of the daughters of Adolf or Justus Lieser, brothers from a wealthy family of Jewish industrialists. Some experts believe the portrait belongs to Margaret Constance Lieser, daughter of Adolf Lieser.
