Magritte realises £59.4m
March 3 2022
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Despite the absolute horrors unfolding in Eastern Europe at the present, Sotheby's London managed to sell René Magritte's L’empire des lumières (1961) for a record-breaking £59.4m (inc. commission) last night. Both modern and contemporary sales realised high prices. The Now Evening Auction realised £29,982,500 (inc. commission) and the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction realised £192,161,150 (which included the Magritte, of course).
Neighbouring London auction house Phillips also made headlines by announcing they would be donating the entirety of their fees from the 20th-century and contemporary art evening auction in London to the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. The donation from the Russian-owned auction house amounts to £5.8 million ($7.7 million) for the charity.
