About This Auction

The 24th edition of The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale presented by Christie’s will immediately follow the 20th/21st Century: Evening Sale on 5 March. This year’s edition features works by many of the most innovative and leading figures of Surrealism, from René Magritte to Paul Delvaux, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Leonora Carrington and Salvador Dalí among the 13 artists represented in the catalogue. Tracing the evolution of the movement — from its roots in Symbolism and Dada, through to its heyday in Paris and Brussels during the 1920s and 1930s, and onto its later iterations in post-war Europe and North America — the eclectic group of artworks in the sale tells the unique story of Surrealism across the 20th century. The sale will be led by René Magritte’s La reconnaissance infinie, one of the artist’s finest, most iconic and mysterious paintings from the 1930s. Additional highlights include three masterpieces by Paul Delvaux, all coming to market for the first time in over 30 years and originating from the same, distinguished private collection, Jean Arp’s major wood relief Amphore infinite, in the same private collection since the date it was executed in 1929, and the only known gouache version by Magritte on the theme of the Faux miroir, originating from the early oil currently in the collection of the MoMA, NY, among the 25 works offered. Selected highlights will be on view at our galleries in New York from 9–14 February and Hong Kong from 21–23 February, ahead of the full pre-sale exhibition in London from 27 February.