After Christie's held its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale on March 1, which included important works by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Franz Marc, Sotheby's followed suit yesterday, auctioning modern and contemporary art in London in two no less prominent auctions.
A special highlight was René Magritte's important surrealist painting L'Empire des lumières (The Empire of Lights), whose estimate of $60 million was already higher than the artist's current auction record ($26.8 million), so a new record was expected.
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A groundbreaking masterpiece by an important artist like Magritte doesn't come onto the market every day, and in fact, the painting, made in 1961 for the daughter of his patron, Pierre Crowet, was offered for sale for the first time ever.
Three telephone bidders fought for the painting for almost eight minutes before the most persistent of them finally got the chance to own it for £59.4 million (about $79.2 million.)
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The price achieved not only means a new auction record for René Magritte, tripling his old record, but it is also the highest price ever paid for a painting in pounds sterling in Europe.
Combined, the two Sotheby's auctions raised a total of £221.4 million (approx. $295 million), the highest amount Sotheby's London has ever raised in a single day.
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