L’empire des lumières (1961) by René Magritte shattered all auction records this week at Sotheby’s to reach an astonishing £59,422,000 – the highest price ever paid for a painting in GBP in Europe (as well as tripling the artist’s record).
In 1961 René Magritte, the exemplary surrealist of the 20th century, made ‘L’empire des lumières’ (‘The Empire of Lights’) for Anne-Marie Gillon Crowet, a close family friend, daughter of his university friend, and sitter of many portraits for him.
The legacy of surrealism can’t be underestimated for modern art. With an eye to its stalwart purveyor Magritte, is this collection. This curation of works sees hallmarks of the French painter refreshed by a cohort of diverse contemporary artists. Here you’ll find vertiginous perpetual antics, figures in cerebral landscapes, and that surreal humour of a light touch and lingering effect.
