A rare painting from René Magritte’s iconic L'empire des lumières series is expected to sell for over $95 million at Christie’s New York this autumn. If it achieves this amount, it would not only set a new auction record for the Surrealist artist but also mark a significant success for the auction house, which has seen a slowdown in sales across the industry recently.
L'empire des lumières (1954) is one of 27 paintings in which Magritte explores the interplay of light and darkness, depicting a sunlit sky above a darkened street scene. In 2022, another piece from the series nearly tripled Magritte’s previous record when it sold for £51.5 million ($59.4 million including fees) at Sotheby’s in London.
The present painting comes from the collection of the late Mica Ertegun, a renowned interior designer and wife of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. Her collection, which is also being sold at auction, includes works by major artists like Joan Miró, David Hockney, and even a Polaroid of Ertegun taken by Andy Warhol.
Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art, said that L'empire des lumières best reflects Ertegun’s aesthetic sensibility for its balance and restraint. "An icon of Surrealism, the Ertegun Magritte is arguably the finest, most exquisitely rendered, and hauntingly beautiful of the series. Like Mica’s eye, it is perfect," he commented.
Ertegun’s collection will be the centerpiece of a dedicated evening sale on November 19 in New York, followed by additional day sales and two online auctions. A "significant portion" of the proceeds will be directed to philanthropic causes, in line with Ertegun’s lifetime support for initiatives like the Graduate Scholarship Programme in the Humanities at Oxford University, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the World Monuments Fund.
In July 2024, Christie’s announced that its total auction sales, both live and online, had reached $2.1 billion in the first half of the year, reflecting a 22% decline from the previous year. Despite this, other indicators like the sell-through rate remained robust. Last week, the auction house also revealed its acquisition of Gooding & Company, a collector car auctioneer, 17 years after exiting the automotive market.
Selena Mattei
| ArtMajeur Magazine