Sotheby’s Scores a Magritte Hat-Trick

Sotheby’s Surrealism sale in Paris was dominated by Rene Magritte but the Belgian artist had some notable assistance in its success. Magritte’s early nude led the sale on October 24: his cloud painting was the top outperformer and only one of the Belgian artist’s four paintings on offer sold below its low estimate.

Sotheby’s sale scored an A- on the HENI Auction Index helped by desirable works by pioneer Surrealists and later artists they influenced. It follows the auction house's outstanding results when it sold Pauline Karpidas's collection last month, Magritte to the fore.

Auction grades

It was Sotheby's auction house’s fourth sale devoted to the movement that combined Dadaism with Dr Freud’s ideas about dreams and desires. The sale included works by Surrealist stars, Max Ernst, Man Ray and Francis Picabia but it also featured works by Roy Lichtenstein, a Gerhard Richter and a John Baldessari.

Given the resurgence of interest in female Surrealists, both early and late, suprisingly the sale featured only one work by a female artist, a 1967 mouth lamp by Alina Szapocznikow.

The HENI Auction Index is a unique benchmark of performance based on 10+ metrics. It provides a more detailed analysis of sales than comparing total revenue, typically not adjusted for inflation, and sell-through rate.

Sotheby’s latest Surrealism sale saw an increase in total sales revenue to 8% higher than the average of its previous three sales. The total number of lots traded was a third higher than average.

Moreover, 45% of lots hammered above their high estimate, which was similar to last year and 14 percentage points above the average in comparable sales.

Among them was Magritte's painting of clouds, La malédiction (1937), which was once owned by fellow Surrealist Roland Penrose. It sold for $1.11m with premium.

In October 2024, Sotheby’s Surrealist sale in Paris scored an A+. The year’s A- sale is partly explained by the fact that all the guarantees and irrevocable bids were “weak”. They were weak because the works backed by the auction house or third-parties sold for below their low estimates.

Moreover, no artist achieved a new auction record in its latest sale.

Sotheby’s has been relatively late to organize a Surrealism-themed sale. Christie’s London has been holding them since 2001 and they are on average double the size of Sotheby’s in Paris: around $60m compared to $30m.

Auction grades

Last March, Christie's Surrealism sale scored a B on the HENI Auction Index because the number of lots traded was 26% lower than usual: the percentage of lots with weak guarantees and irrevocable bids rose to 8%, four times the average in comparable sales. Also, there were no artist auction records.

Sotheby’s A- sale in Paris underlines the moral of its A+ Karpidas sale in London in September and Christie’s B sale in the spring. The movement that first flourished in France 100 years ago is more than an aphrodisiac for the auction houses. In a sluggish market, it is a shot of adrenaline.

Total sales value (real $) and total number of lots

Above estimates

Guarantees and irrevocable bids

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here