‘Le principe du plaisir’ (on the right), by Belgian painter Rene Magritte, fetched $26.8 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York (Don EMMERT)

New York (AFP) – A painting by Rene Magritte sold for $26.8 million Monday at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, setting a record for a work by the Belgian surrealist.

The painting entitled “Le principe du plaisir” topped the price fetched by “La corde sensible”, which was sold in February 2017 in London for $17.9 million.

Sotheby’s had estimated the painting sold Monday as being worth 15 to 20 million dollars. It said seven collectors — an unusually high number — bid for it.

Other paintings on offer on the second night of the autumn art auctions in New York also surpassed their estimated value.

“Improvisation on Mahogany” by Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky, fetched $24.2 million, compared to its pre-sale estimate of 15-20 million dollars.

A painting that was supposed to be one of the main attractions of the auction failed to lure a buyer.

It was Marsden Hartley’s “Pre-War Pageant”, considered to be one of the first totally abstract works in the history of American art.

It was estimated at $30 million, nearly five times the record for that US painter.

On Sunday, the Vincent Van Gogh Painting “Coin de jardin avec papillons”, estimated at $40 million, went begging at a Christie’s auction of Impressionist and Modern art.

The fall art auctions continue through Thursday evening.

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