A rare painting by Rene Magritte, titled “Empire of Light,” has sold for a staggering $95 million, setting a new auction record for the surrealist artist. This sale marks a significant achievement for Christie’s auction house, especially in light of recent declines in industry sales.
Created in 1954, “L’empire des lumières” is part of a series in which Magritte masterfully contrasts a sunlit sky with a shadowy street scene. In 2022, another piece from this series nearly tripled Magritte’s previous auction record when it sold for $79.7 million in London.
The painting comes from the estate of the late Mika Ertegun, an interior designer and wife of Ahmet Ertegun, co-founder of Atlantic Records and a passionate art collector. Alongside this painting, the auction will feature works by renowned artists such as Joan Miró, David Hockney, and even a Polaroid of Ertegun taken by Andy Warhol.
A special evening auction of Mika Ertegun’s collection is scheduled for November 19 in New York, with a significant portion of the proceeds designated for charity, according to a spokesperson for Christie’s.
Despite the success of this sale, Christie’s reported a 22% decline in total revenue from live and online auction sales in the first half of 2024, totaling $2.1 billion—approximately $600 million less than the same period in 2023.
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