Record Magritte sells for £51.5 million at Sotheby's London

René Magritte's 'L'Empire des Lumières' sold for £51.5 million (€62 million) at Sotheby's London, tripling the artist's previous auction record. The painting, executed in 1961 for Baroness Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet, daughter of Magritte's patron Pierre Crowet, had been in the family collection and on loan to the Magritte Museum in Brussels from 2009 to 2020. The auction, conducted by Helena Newman, Chairman of Sotheby's Europe, lasted about seven minutes, starting at £40 million. Bidding narrowed to three telephone bidders, with the winning bid coming from a buyer connected via the Asia desk. The final price with buyer's premium reached £59.4 million, making it the most valuable painting ever sold in Europe in pounds. Sotheby's promoted the sale by projecting the artwork onto the facade of its New Bond Street headquarters. The sale contributed to a record single-day total of £221 million for Sotheby's London across The Now Evening Auction and Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction.