Rare Magritte gouache to be auctioned by Christie's in Paris
On 9 April, Christie's will auction La Peine Perdue, a rare gouache by Belgian painter René Magritte. The work will be sold in an auction of 42 lots and is estimated to fetch between 2.6 and 3.6 million euros.
"A remarkable example of Magritte's mature painting, La peine perdue (Wasted effort) combines some of the artist’s most iconic imagery, notably the curtains and sky", said the auction house.
"The composition is dominated by monumental curtains, through which Magritte juxtaposes opposites—the paradox of concealment and revelation, and the contrast between the natural and the artificial, interior and exterior," said Christie's.
The exact date of execution remains uncertain. According to Robert Elkon, a New York dealer of Belgian origin who bought the work in 1967, the gouache dates from 1965.
The sale also includes a drawing by the Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert entitled Galeries royales d'Ostende et plage, après l'orage. The work is valued at between 500,000 and 700,000 euros and comes from a Belgian collection.
The Magritte Museum in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO ERIC VIDAL
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