🔗 Share this article

A notable artwork from the renowned avant-garde painter René Magritte which has stayed in a single personal collection for more than 90 years is scheduled to be sold later this month.

The Intriguing Background Behind this Painting

The painting was originally acquired by the family belonging to Suzanne Spaak, a World War II underground fighter who served as Magritte's benefactor at an period when Magritte had financial troubles economically and had been unable to move any piece for two years.

Spaak was shot at the hands of Nazi forces in the French capital due to her actions to help Jewish children reach security.

Auction Projections and Anticipations

This fine art firm has estimated that La Magie Noire could fetch in the range of five million euros and seven million euros, but many expect it to reach a higher value.

This is the initial instance I’ve managed an important Magritte work which has stayed with one household since its creation,” remarked an high-ranking auction house official. This is remarkable, just like the story behind the owners.”

The official further described this work as “the Taylor Swift of surrealism,” noting that Were you to ask some students to prepare a report about the surrealist movement, this painting alone would be sufficient to define it.”

Magritte's Early Struggles and Professional Growth

This Belgian artist initially worked as a designer at a wallpaper plant and produced advertising posters before 1926, at which point Magritte produced his first surrealist piece.

The following year, he had his debut exhibition in the Belgian capital, however the critics were harsh and disheartened the artist relocated to Paris, where he failed to establish his mark.

Magritte returned to Belgium in 1930 and established a commercial art business with his brother Paul Magritte.

The artist's life was very difficult at this time. The Great Depression that started in 1929 in America affected the French economy by the early 1930s. Over a two-year span, from 1930 to 1932, he sold nothing and had no shows,” an expert stated.

“Nobody was buying paintings by surrealists. They were considered revolutionary troublemakers.”

The Influence of the Benefactors

The husband, Claude, a celebrated Belgian-born writer, knew the artist and a patron, commissioning portraits of Suzanne and their kids and arranging a monthly stipend for Magritte and his household.

In 1934, Suzanne Spaak’s sibling Alice, called Bunny, acquired the painting to celebrate the arrival of her newborn with Emile Happe, a Belgian industrialist.

“The Spaak family was to Belgium what the Mountbattens were to the UK; almost aristocratic and they pulled Magritte through hard times,” an art specialist said. “It was bought to mark the arrival of a child but it was a rebirth for the painter who was trying to get himself back on his feet.”

Artistic Features and Symbolism

The subject in this series had been his spouse, Georgette Berger, she is portrayed in a classical manner like a marble statue placing her hand on a block of stone.

Her torso slowly merges into the sky behind her whereas her lower body retains its natural tone.

The artist later created 10 similar works, many of them were given different names. In this work, the initial in the series, Berger is portrayed with a bird perched on her shoulder.

One-third of the backdrop displays a partially paneled interior wall.

Suzanne Spaak’s Heroic Underground Activities

The couple were living in Paris when war broke out in the late 1930s.

Following the German takeover of Paris, she became part of the underground and served as a participant of the “Red Orchestra” intelligence unit.

She used her considerable fortune to save 163 Jewish children from deportation, sheltering several of them in her residence before they could be moved to safety.

Final End with Legacy

In October 1943, German forces arrested her along with hundreds of the Red Orchestra.

On August 12, 1944, days before the liberation of the city, the Gestapo killed Spaak in her prison cell. She was 38 and was later been honoured by the state of Israel as one of the Righteous for her efforts in saving Jewish lives.

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on 15 August 1967 and rests in the Belgian capital.

Exhibition with Sale Schedule

The painting, previously shown in the Magritte Museum in Belgium, has been rarely seen outside Belgium in more than nine decades.

La Magie Noire will be exhibited in the French capital from October 17-23 before its sale on 24 October.