‘The Empire of Lights’, an iconic painting by René Magritte, was sold this November 19 at Christie’s in New York for 121 million dollarssetting an auction record for the artist, just in the year that marks the centenary of the surrealist movement.
After about ten minutes of battle in Rockefeller Center, the work was sold for exactly $121,160,000, a sum that marks a new milestone for a work of surrealism and that also makes it one of the most expensive paintings in history at auction, according to AFP.
This painting is part of a series of homonymous paintings by the Belgian painter (1898-1967) that symbolize the game of lights and shadows that he loved. It represents the paradoxical image of a house at night, illuminated only by a street lamp, under a blue sky during the day.
The painting, which inspired the American director William Friedkin in the famous horror film ‘The Exorcist’ (1973), was part of the private collection of Mica Ertegunan interior designer who fled communist Romania to the United States, where she became an influential figure in the art world. Died at the end of 2023 at the age of 97, she was the wife of Ahmet Ertegunthe music mogul who founded the Atlantic Records record company, known for having “signed” Led Zeppelin.
He previous record for a work by René Magritte sold at auction also corresponds to a painting from this series that was auctioned by 79 million dollars in 2022. The sale of this work was expected to be a highlight of this fall sales week in New York, while the art market has seen a slowdown since 2023, after a record festival in 2022 with the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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