“The Empire of Lights” was sold Tuesday evening at Christie’s in New York for $121 million.
This painting inspired director William Friedkin for his film “The Exorcist”.
The previous record for a work by René Magritte sold at auction was set at $79 million in 2022.
This is a record for the artist. The empire of lightsan emblematic painting by René Magritte, was sold on Tuesday evening, November 19, at Christie’s in New York for 121 million dollars (115 million euros). After about ten minutes of battle at Rockefeller Center, it was sold for exactly $121,160,000 (commissions and fees included), a record sum for a work of surrealism, which also makes it one of the most expensive paintings of the ‘History at auction.
This painting is part of a series of eponymous paintings by the Belgian painter (1898-1967) symbolizing the play of light and shadow that he was so fond of. It represents the paradoxical image of a house at night, lit only by a street lamp, under a blue sky during the day.
A painting that inspired the film “The Exorcist”
The painting inspired the American director William Friedkin for the famous horror film The Exorcist (1973). It was part of the private collection of Mica Ertegün, an interior designer who fled communist Romania to settle in the United States, where she became an influential figure in the arts world. Died at the age of 97 at the end of 2023, she was the wife of Ahmet Ertegün, the music mogul who founded the record company Atlantic Records, known for having “signed” Led Zeppelin.
The previous record for a work by René Magritte sold at auction stood at $79 million in 2022, again for a painting from the “Empire of Lights” series. The sale of this work was expected to be a highlight of this week of fall sales in New York, while the art market has experienced a slowdown since 2023, after a record festival in 2022 at the release of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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