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A remarkable painting from this renowned surrealist artist René Magritte that has remained in a single private collection for more than nine decades will go to go sold this October.

The Captivating Story Behind this Painting

The painting was originally acquired through the relatives belonging to Spaak, an Second World War underground fighter that served as Magritte's patron at an time when Magritte had financial troubles financially and failed to sell any work for two years.

She was shot at the hands of the Gestapo in the French capital for her efforts to help young Jewish individuals find safety.

Auction Estimates with Expectations

This auction house has estimated that La Magie Noire may fetch between five million euros to seven million euros, but experts expect that it will achieve a higher price.

This is the initial instance I have handled an important piece by Magritte that has stayed with one household from its creation,” stated a senior auction house executive. “It is extraordinary, just like the history behind the owners.”

The official also referred to this work by saying the superstar in surrealist art,” noting that “If you were to ask a group of schoolchildren to do a presentation on the surrealist movement, this artwork alone could be enough to explain the movement.”

Magritte's Formative Challenges and Professional Growth

This Belgian-born artist first was employed as an artist in a wallpaper plant and created advertising posters until the mid-1920s, when Magritte produced his first avant-garde piece.

The following year, he had his debut show in the Belgian capital, however the critics were savage and disheartened Magritte relocated to Paris, in which he was unable to make his mark.

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

The artist's life was quite hard during that period. The economic crisis that started in the late 1920s in America affected France by the early 1930s. For two years, from 1930 and 1932, Magritte sold no works and held no exhibitions,” the specialist stated.

“Nobody purchased paintings by surrealists. These artists were viewed as radical agitators.”

This Role of the Benefactors

The spouse, Claude Spaak, a celebrated Belgian playwright, knew Magritte and a benefactor, ordering portraits of his wife and their kids and arranging a monthly stipend for Magritte and his family.

By 1934, the sister Alice, called Bunny, acquired the painting to celebrate the arrival of her first child with Emile Happe, a Belgian industrialist.

“The Spaak family was to Belgium like the Mountbattens were to the UK; almost aristocratic and they helped Magritte through hard times,” an art specialist commented. “It was bought to mark the birth of a baby but it was a revival for Magritte as he was trying to recover financially.”

Painting Details with Symbolism

The subject in this series was Magritte’s wife, Georgette, who is portrayed in a classic style resembling a marble statue placing her hand on a block of stone.

Her torso slowly merges into the sky behind her whereas her lower half retains its realistic coloring.

The artist went on to paint 10 similar works, most of which received different names. Here, the first in the series, Berger appears with a bird on her right shoulder.

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

Suzanne Spaak’s Courageous Underground Work

Suzanne and Claude Spaak resided in Paris when war broke out in the late 1930s.

Following the Nazi occupation of the French capital, Suzanne joined the resistance and was a participant in the “Red Orchestra” intelligence unit.

Spaak used her considerable fortune to save over 160 Jewish youngsters from deportation, hiding a number of them in her residence before they were relocated to secure locations.

Tragic End with Legacy

In October 1943, German forces arrested her together with 600 members of the Red Orchestra.

On 12 August 1944, just before the liberation of the city, the Gestapo executed Spaak in her prison cell. She was 38 years old and has since recognized by Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations for her actions to save Jewish lives.

The artist passed away from cancer in August 1967 and is buried in the Belgian capital.

Exhibition with Sale Schedule

The painting, which has been displayed at the Magritte museum in Brussels, has seldom been exhibited outside Belgium in more than nine decades.

The piece will be shown in Paris from 17 and 23 October prior to the auction on October 24.