🔗 Share this article The surrealist master's Iconic Surrealist Masterpiece Scheduled for French Sale An extraordinary artwork from this famed avant-garde artist René Magritte that has stayed within a single private collection for more than nine decades is set to be auctioned this October. This Captivating Story Behind the Artwork La Magie Noire was originally purchased by the family belonging to Suzanne Spaak, an Second World War resistance fighter who served as the artist's supporter at a period where he had financial troubles financially and had failed to sell a single work over two years. She was executed by Nazi forces in Paris for her efforts to help young Jewish individuals reach security. Sale Estimates and Expectations The auction house has projected that the artwork could fetch between five million euros to €7m, however experts anticipate that it will achieve a much higher value. “It is the first time I’ve managed a major piece by Magritte that has remained with one family since its creation,” stated an senior auction house official. This is extraordinary, just like the history behind the owners.” The official further referred to the painting as the superstar of surrealism,” noting how Were you to ask a group of students to do a presentation about the surrealist movement, this painting by itself could be enough to explain the movement.” The Artist's Early Challenges with Career Development The Belgian artist initially worked as an artist in a wallpaper plant and produced advertising posters until 1926, when he produced his debut surrealist piece. The following year, he had his debut exhibition in the Belgian capital, but the critics were savage so disheartened the artist relocated to France, in which he failed to make his mark. Magritte went back to his homeland by 1930 where he established an advertising agency alongside his brother Paul Magritte. The artist's life was quite hard during that period. The economic crisis that started in 1929 in America hit the French economy by the early 1930s. For two years, between 1930 to 1932, he sold nothing and had no exhibitions,” the expert explained. “Nobody was buying paintings from surrealist artists. These artists were viewed as revolutionary agitators.” This Role of the Patrons The husband, Claude, a well-known Belgian-born playwright, knew Magritte acting as a patron, ordering portraits of Suzanne and children while also arranging a monthly stipend for the artist and his household. In 1934, the sister Alice, known as Bunny, acquired La Magie Noire to celebrate the birth of her first child with Emile Happe, an industrial industrialist. This family represented for Belgium what the Mountbattens were for Britain; almost aristocratic and they helped Magritte through hard times,” the expert commented. “It was bought to commemorate the arrival of a baby but it also marked a rebirth for the painter who was struggling to recover financially.” Artistic Details and Symbolism The model for the series had been his spouse, Georgette Berger, who is portrayed in a classic style resembling a sculpted figure placing her hand on a stone block. Her torso slowly merges into the sky in the background while her lower body retains its natural tone. Magritte later created ten comparable works, most of which received distinct titles. In this work, the first of the series, Georgette appears with a dove perched on her shoulder. A portion of the background shows a partially paneled wall inside. Her Heroic Underground Work Suzanne and Claude Spaak resided in Paris when war broke out in 1939. After the Nazi occupation 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 rescue 163 Jewish children from being deported, hiding a number of them in her residence before they could be moved to safety. Final Outcome with Historical Impact In October 1943, German forces captured Spaak together with 600 members of the network. On 12 August 1944, just before the freeing of the city, Nazi agents killed Spaak in captivity. She had been 38 and was later recognized by Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for her actions in saving Jewish lives. Magritte passed away of pancreatic cancer in August 1967 and is buried in Brussels. Display with Sale Timeline The painting, previously shown in the Magritte Museum in Brussels, has seldom been exhibited outside Belgium over nine decades. The piece will be shown in Paris between October 17-23 before its sale on 24 October.