After Christie's held its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale on March 1, which included important works by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Franz Marc, Sotheby's followed suit yesterday, auctioning modern and contemporary art in London in two no less prominent auctions.

A special highlight was René Magritte's important surrealist painting L'Empire des lumières (The Empire of Lights), whose estimate of $60 million was already higher than the artist's current auction record ($26.8 million), so a new record was expected.

A groundbreaking masterpiece by an important artist like Magritte doesn't come onto the market every day, and in fact, the painting, made in 1961 for the daughter of his patron, Pierre Crowet, was offered for sale for the first time ever.

Three telephone bidders fought for the painting for almost eight minutes before the most persistent of them finally got the chance to own it for £59.4 million (about $79.2 million.)

Related: The 10 Most Expensive Artworks Auctioned in 2021

The price achieved not only means a new auction record for René Magritte, tripling his old record, but it is also the highest price ever paid for a painting in pounds sterling in Europe.

Combined, the two Sotheby's auctions raised a total of £221.4 million (approx. $295 million), the highest amount Sotheby's London has ever raised in a single day.

For more news from the auction market, check out Barnebys Magazine

RENÉ MAGRITTE (BELGIAN 1898-1967) NUDE FIGURES STUDIES, DOUBLE SIDED ‡ Pencil on paper, double sided Provenance: With Sothebys: The remaining contents of the studio of Rene Magritte, 2nd July 1987, lot 831 21.5cm x 17.5cm

RENÉ MAGRITTE (BELGIAN 1898-1967) NUDE FIGURES STUDIES, DOUBLE SIDED

"The art of René Magritte has had an influence far exceeding the confines of the art world. Imagery adapted from his paintings has been widely disseminated for more than half a century through advertising, cartoons, film, book jackets, and popular music... His work has continued to appeal to modern audiences hungry for the puzzling conjunctions of the everyday and the fantastic... The inscrutable nature of Magritte's work--coded, self-referential, and incongruous--has [moreover] intrigued severa

Les Enfants Trouvés de Magritte - MAGRITTE, RENÉ; SCUTENAIRE, LOUIS.

Having met at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, René Magritte (1898–1967) and Pierre-Louis Flouquet (1900–1967) shared a studio on the Rue de Alexiens and later exhibited together at the short-lived Centre d’Art founded in December 1919. In 1920, Flouquet undertook his military service in France, and Magritte would write regularly to keep up his friend’s morale. In 1927— having worked so closely as to render many of their works form this period indistinguishable—the two men grew somewhat 

Four Signed Letters [ALS/TLS] with Original Pencil Drawing, 1920–21

Firma in lastra in basso a sinistra: Magritte, sigla a matita sul margine in basso a destra: FM (Fernand Mourlot), tiratura

Un Bombardon Libère son Bouquet de Flammes, (1968) René Magritte (Lessines

Written within the span of only three weeks during the summer of 1930, André Breton and Paul Éluard’s L’Immaculée Conception is a quintessential example of the Surrealist practice of automatic writing. While Surrealism today may at first evoke painters such as René Magritte and Salvador Dalí, Surrealism was demarcated by its founders, namely Breton, as an experiment as much, if not more, in language and literature as the visual arts. Thus, the process of automatic writing which he developed acro

L'Immaculée Conception - BRETON, ANDRÉ; ÉLUARD, PAUL.

Tratto dall'artowkr: Le fils de l'homme Nuovo oggetto 13x10.2x4.9cm - 0.48kg Le fils de l'homme è un dipinto del surrealista belga René Magritte . Risale al 1964. Magritte lo dipinse come un autoritratto. Il dipinto è costituito da un uomo in cappotto e bombetta, in piedi di fronte a un muretto. Dietro il muro vediamo il mare e un cielo nuvoloso. Il volto dell'uomo è coperto da una mela verde, ma riesce ancora a dare un'occhiata furtiva oltre il bordo della mela. C'è qualcosa di molto strano nel

Statua, Le fils de l'homme - 13 cm - Resina

STOT21stcplanB / Il vero, non Banksy, Serigrafia su cartoncino, firmata e numerata, (piccola tiratura di 100 copie!!!) dimensione 59,4 x 42 x 0,2 cm; Formato A2 Pubblicato per celebrare 13 anni di sconvolgimento culturale dal laboratorio di industria leggera L-13 2009-2022, qui presentiamo una serie di 13 nuove edizioni serigrafiche che giocano tutte abilmente sul dipinto fondamentale di René Magritte The Treachery of Images - aka This is NOT a Pipe. AToM 1313 = 13 edizioni da 100 + 1 AP = 1.313

STOT21stcplanB / The Real Not Banksy - Flower Thrower

In condizioni eccellenti/nuove, comprese scatole portaoggetti e certificati. Realizzato in polystone, dipinto a mano in maniera artigianale presso l'azienda Parastone. L'uomo con la bombetta (1964) Questo ritratto dell'uomo con la famosa bombetta può essere considerato una variazione de “Il figlio dell'uomo”, dove il volto dell'uomo è nascosto dietro una mela. Lo stesso Magritte ha detto a questo proposito: “Dietro tutto ciò che vediamo c'è qualcos'altro, vogliamo sempre vedere ciò che è nascost

René Magritte - Statuetta - L’homme au chapeau melon - Resina

The much-anticipated auction of René Magritte's "L'Empire des Lumières" was hugely successful in more ways than one.

This Magritte Masterpiece Sets Two Records

Until March 22, a piece of modern cultural history will be shown at Berzelii Park 1 in Stockholm. Bukowskis has opened a retrospective exhibition of Gudmar Olovson's art and is hosting an online auction where more than a hundred works by the legendary sculptor will be sold.

Gudmar Olovson (1936-2017) worked in the French classical tradition and his monumental works can be found in several public places around the world. His sculptures pay homage to and reflect the love of human nature, and for his artistic work he was awarded countless prizes and awards.

Here, Barnebys talks to Lisa Gartz, a specialist in sculpture and painting at Bukowskis, about the exhibition and Gudmar Olovson's art.

I suppose this is the most extensive exhibition with Gudmar Olovson's sculptures ever shown?

Yes, that's right, there are over a hundred works of art from seven decades, so this retrospective exhibition at Bukowskis is the largest exhibition ever made with his work. During his life he had several major international exhibitions, at the Grand Palais, the Grand Prix de la Sculpture and the Musée Rodin in Paris, the Kennedy Galleries in New York, the Cercle Munster in Luxembourg, and the Exposition des Artistes du Groupe in Yvelines to name a few. But this is a unique opportunity to see so many gathered at once.

What is it like to see an artist's life work that spans seven decades interact on your premises?

You feel humility and joy at the same time. It is really with a great deal of reverence that we have, in close collaboration with Gudmar's children, taken on the task, and we try to do his work justice. We are also grateful to have been able to borrow some important works of art in private ownership that the public can now see. It is very exciting to see how the works interact with each other and we also are showing a film produced by the filmmaker Erik Fägerwall, who followed Gudmar for many years. It depicts everything from the casting process to the placement and inauguration of monumental sculptures around the world.

Gudmar Olovson was for many a hidden gem here at home, at the same time as he was a giant in Paris. What significance has he had in sculpture and how can one describe his work? 

Maybe not many people recognize his name here in Sweden, but if you mention the beautiful sculpture in the park at Ersta Hospital that looks out over the water towards Djurgården, or the impressive and tender sculptures in Höllviken's sculpture park, many have seen and enjoyed them without perhaps knowing the artist's name. And his works are in several private collections, including his interesting portraits of everyone from Ingrid Bergman to the King of Sweden, several French presidents, artists, business giants and the pope. He worked in the classical tradition and when he left Sweden for France he found himself in a country that pays homage to this tradition from Rodin to Degas, Wlérick to Despiau, and his work is a very good representative of this tradition.

Barnebys talked to Gudmar's children: Magnus Olovson and Susanne Olovson. 

What was it like growing up with a father who was a recognized artist?

It was of course a part of our everyday life and at the same time a privilege. Dad was loving and very concerned that we had what we needed, even though it was almost always financially difficult. Later in life, Dad shared a lot: experiences, care, a good wine or a good dish he cooked; he loved to cook on his two electric hotplates in the studio under the stairs! It could also be a new slimming method (a glass of apple cider vinegar in the morning was a favorite), a visit to the bronze caster or frequent phone calls. 

Father hung out unhindered with both counts and princes, artist friends, plaster casters, singers and collectors. And mixed them happily and often! It was extremely enriching for us children.

What do you appreciate most about your dad's artistry?

The beauty and honesty. And the continuity. Father's solid knowledge of and great respect for the various ancient crafts that surround classical sculpture, such as plaster casting, magnification and all the parts of bronze casting up to the patination. His father's oldest friend was the enlarger ("l'agrandisseur") Georges Bigel, who started his career as a 13-year-old in Montparnasse in the 1930s, became a prisoner of war in Germany where he worked for Arno Brecker and worked until his death in his father's studio on rue Saint Charles. 

Our father created in and around the four elements: 
The earth he creates from the 
Air the work lives in  
The fire it is cast in the  
Water that purifies the metal and in which the sculpture is reflected

And so we are all left free to interpret the works as we ourselves want… no intellectual explanation is really needed.

Is there a sculpture that you have a special relationship with?

Captivité precisely because he handles the body in an unreal and impossible position while the expression of the work so simply and deeply reflects "captivity". A wonderful posture so far from a man sitting with his arms crossed!

Did you get to be in the studio and if so, what was it like to enter your father's innermost world? 

Among molds, plaster, sculptures, stairs, dust, wine glasses, laughter and tools, father created a home for us when our parents separated in 1981. There was the kitchen, the shower with hot water for 20 seconds thanks to the pipe that warmed at the element, beds, an old sofa and a tiny garden. No TV for 40 years!

There were busts around us with those who sat as models laughing among candles, including ourselves! You may think it was fun and purely magical. Not to mention the many wonderful parties we attended, and which we arranged, but which father also arranged for us and our friends. 

Do you have an anecdote from your father that you want to share? 

Father was a telephone operator. He called us at least 2-3 times a week while we two children lived on different continents. He would mix up the time zones and call one in the morning and say good evening, for no other reason than to hear our voices.

More than an anecdote is that father was a free man, free as much as possible in a civilized society. He was also a Renaissance man who loved architecture and poetry which inspired most of his larger works. He also loved, and perhaps most importantly, the woman he most often portrayed as a goddess.

In collaboration with Gudmar Olovson's family, Bukowskis presents the retrospective exhibition "Gudmar Olovson - A life in sculpture" in Stockholm before the works are auctioned.

In April 2021, a rare blue diamond was unearthed at the Cullinan Mine in South Africa. This mine is one of the few in the world where blue-colored diamonds are mined due to the natural addition of boron. To bring out the best in the special stone, it was transformed by the diamond cutters at De Beers into a brilliant 15.10 carat step-cut or emerald-cut gemstone known as The De Beers Cullinan Blue. On April 27, a year after its discovery, the Cullinan Blue will go under the hammer at Sotheby's in Hong Kong.

Related: The World's 10 Most Expensive Diamonds

"This diamond ranks as one of the best De Beers has ever seen," said Bruce Cleaver, the CEO of De Beers. "It is extremely rare and unique, and as the Home of Diamonds, De Beers is pleased to join together with Sotheby’s to bring this diamond to the world."

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) also took a close look at the blue diamond and stated that it was a specimen of superlatives. Its color was described as Fancy Vivid Blue, the best possible color grade. Added to this is its impeccable clarity with a classification as Type IIb, the top level among natural diamonds, which make up just 0.1% of all stones.

Related: Diamonds: An Iridescent Investment

The best way to compare the De Beers Cullinan Blue is with the world's most expensive blue diamond, The Oppenheimer Blue, which was sold at Christie's in 2016 for 51.7 million euros. Also from the Cullinan mine, The Oppenheimer Blue is Fancy Vivid Blue in color, a Type IIb diamond and has a step cut sparkle. However, the Cullinan Blue edges out the Oppenheimer Blue in terms of weight, as the latter is "just" 14.62 carats. The Cullinan Blue is therefore poised to dethrone the Oppenheimer as the most expensive blue diamond in history.

A single-lot auction in April will be dedicated to the extraordinary stone, which could become the world's most expensive diamond.

The De Beers Cullinan Blue Diamond Goes to Auction

This Magritte Masterpiece Sets Two Records

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