A painting by the surrealist master René Magritte is expected to fetch up to £50 million, or US$63 million, at Christie’s standalone sale of surrealist art in March in London.
L’ami Intime (The Intimate Friend), created in 1958, depicts Magritte’s iconic bowler-hatted figure gazing onto mountainous scenery and a blue sky from what appears to be a stone balcony. A baguette and glass of wine float behind him.
The painting was previously owned by collectors Gilbert and Lena Kaplan. Gilbert Kaplan, who passed away in January 2016, founded the Wall Street publication Institutional Investor when he was a 25-year-old economist, and later gained worldwide recognition for conducting Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, according to Christie’s and published reports at the time of his death at age 74.
The painting hasn’t been seen at an auction since the Kaplans acquired it in 1980, shortly after it was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London for a hammer price of £90,000, according to Christie’s. It was last exhibited at the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in 1998, Christie’s said.
