One Painting Worth 170 Billion KRW... Ren? Magritte Joins the '100 Million Dollar Club'

The Highest-Priced Surrealist Artwork Ever
16th Following Andy Warhol, Picasso, and Others

The 16th artist to join the '100 Million Dollar Club,' where a single painting is valued at over 100 million dollars, has emerged. The protagonist is Belgian surrealist artist Rene Magritte (1898?1967), as on the night of the 19th (local time) at Christie's in Manhattan, New York, his painting 'Empire of Light' was sold for $121.2 million (approximately 169 billion KRW), including fees.

Ren? Magritte, 'Empire of Light' (1954) [Photo by Centre Pompidou]

'Empire of Light' is a work that captures a surreal situation combining a night scene with a bright blue daytime sky. Although it looks like a familiar landscape, a closer look reveals the coexistence of day and night, depicting an unreal scene. This piece is the largest among the 17 works Magritte painted under the name 'Empire of Light.'

The New York Times (NYT) reported that during the auction, two telephone bidders engaged in a 10-minute battle to become the owner of this painting. French market analysis company Artprice stated, "The price of this painting is the highest ever paid for a surrealist artwork at auction," and added, "Magritte has become the 16th artist to break the 100 million dollar barrier."

Artists who have joined the 100 Million Dollar Club include Leonardo da Vinci, Gustav Klimt, Amedeo Modigliani, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francis Bacon, and Pablo Picasso. Their paintings have sold for over 100 million dollars in six or more auctions.

Paolo Bedov? said in an interview with the NYT, "Now it seems all major collectors want Magritte's works," and evaluated, "Magritte is very modern. Perhaps you can escape this world and bad thoughts. Everyone does not want to face harsh realities. He is poetic."

Born in Lessines, Belgium, in November 1898, Magritte was active at the center of the early 20th-century Paris surrealist movement and died in Brussels in August 1967. He is considered the greatest artist in Belgian history. His representative works include 'The Treachery of Images,' which shows a pipe painting with the phrase 'Ceci n’est pas une pipe' (This is not a pipe), questioning the contradictory relationship between reality and its representation, and 'Golconda,' where gentlemen in bowler hats and coats appear to be raining down from the sky, floating in the air.