René Magritte's L'empire des lumières is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York on Nov. 8.KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images
An eerie nighttime streetscape below a pale blue daytime sky by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte sold for $121.2 million, a record for the artist, at an auction in New York.
The painting, “The Empire of Light,” sold Tuesday as part of Christie’s sale of the collection of interior designer Mica Ertegun, who died last year at age 97.
The sale lifts Magritte into the ranks of artists whose works have sold for more than $100 million at auction. Magritte is the 16th member of the club that also includes Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, according to the market analyst firm Artprice.
The work that sold Tuesday, executed in 1954, was one of 17 versions of the same scene that Magritte painted in oil. Marc Porter, chairman of Christie’s Americas, called the sale “a historic moment in our saleroom.”
The $121.2 million price includes the auction house’s fees. The buyer was a telephone bidder whose identity was not disclosed.
The fall auctions in New York continue Wednesday with Sotheby’s sale of contemporary art, which includes the conceptual piece “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It consists of a banana taped to a wall.