A painting by René Magritte may fetch $64 million at an auction marking a century of surrealism

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A major work by surrealist painter René Magritte that hasn’t been shown in public for a quarter century could fetch $64 million at auction next month. Christie’s auction house says it will offer “L’ami intime,” or The Intimate Friend, at a March 7 sale in London. The auction marks a century of the surrealist movement. Christie’s expert Olivier Camu says the painting is among the handful of most important Magritte works in private hands. It depicts a rear view of a bowler-hatted man, with a baguette and a wine glass hovering in the foreground. It was last auctioned in 1980 and has a pre-sale estimate of between 30 million and 50 million pounds, or $38 million and $64 million.