“It’s quite exceptional, it feels like participating in the history of art,” smiles the auctioneer

Both belonged to a Belgian private collector and are “very representative of René Magritte’s work”, underlines on Franceinfo the auctioneer Solène Lainé.

“It’s quite exceptional, we have the impression of participating in the history of art”rejoices the auctioneer Solène Lainée, smiling on Saturday March 8 on Franceinfo, about the two works of Magritte which were auction in Caen. “These are works from the 1930s, so this is really the ideal period when the artist developed his surrealist vocabulary”she continues.

The first work, a naked woman, from the front, drawn with color pencils, has a starting price between 100,000 and 150,000 euros, can be read in the catalog of Caen Auctions. It was sold at 100,000 euros, a total of 124,000 euros with costs. The second room is a wooden oil representing a cloudy sky with a pebble inlaid in the center, the starting price was this time between 150,000 and 200,000 euros. This object table was purchased by phone for an amount of 255,000 euros (316,000 euros with costs).

How far can prices go up? Difficult to say, explained the auctioneer before the sale, “It will be a surprise for us too”. Until now, the works of Magritte sold on the art market were either “Oils estimated at several million euros, so it’s something, but we are very far from it”, Details Solène Lainée, “Or drawings that are similar to sketches”. Here it is a “Credit drawing” and a “Object table”, two works that have “No comparison on the art market”, Analysis the commissioner.

Sophie Lainé adds that these two pieces are “Very representative of René Magritte’s work”. “We find recurring themes such as this female image that we will find in particular in works such as The blaze or even Rape And the cloudy sky that he developed a lot in the 1930s “.

According to the auctioneer, these works were “acquired by a Belgian surrealist poet and filmmaker”, Ernst Moerman, “Referenced as a collector of René Magritte”. Sophie Lainé talks about a “Absolutely exceptional” provenance “.