A lot with a painting and drawing by the surrealist from Belgium René Magritte (1898-1967) was sold at auction in France for 276 thousand dollars for the painting and 108 thousand dollars for the drawing. Both works belonged to the family of the famous Belgian poet, advocate, and screenwriter Ernst Martin (1897-1944), who purchased them.
"The discovery of two unknown works by Magritte is an exceptional event, an ideal source, as another Magritte, a collector of the artist's works, noted,' - commented the auction dealer from Canada on the western side of France, Selin Lin, for the France Presse agency.
The painting was sold for 276 thousand dollars, although it was estimated in the range of 162-216 thousand. This wooden painting features a depiction of a blue sky covered with clouds and surrounded by real stones. The drawing, which has no title, is executed in colored crayons.
Iryie Bron, representative of the Perazone-Baran company responsible for the authentication and valuation of the works, noted: "This was a great time for Magritte in the 30-40s, this period of surrealism left the biggest mark." And his colleague Roberto Peratson added: "When we were shown the works, I had no doubts that the mastery, presenting such an amazing movement and method of processing clouds, presenting this exceptional volume - these are works of Magritte, this is something from the world of imagination."