Rene Magritte's La Grande Table has set a new French auction record for the artist.
Produced by the Belgian surrealist in the early 1960s, it sold just above its high estimate for $6.6m at Sotheby's Paris on October 24.
 Rene Magritte’s La Grande Table features his ubiquitous apple |
The sale is a reminder to collectors that works "typical" of an artist often perform the strongest at auction. In this case, the painting contained a depiction of one of Magritte's most heavily featured themes: the apple.
His La Parure de l'Orage from 1927 also performed well, selling at the top of its estimate for $1.9m.
Earlier this year Magritte's Les jours gigantesques sold for £7.2m ($11.3m) at Christie's, becoming the second highest selling work by the artist in the process.
 Andy Warhol's $4.1m Marilyn work |
At this week's auction bidders also fought keenly over Four Multicoloured Marilyns (Reversal Series), a late 1970s work by Andy Warhol in which he returned to one of his most iconic themes.
It more than doubled its low estimate, selling for $4.1m. We have Warhol's tradeamark black sweater for auction right now.
The pieces formed part of the Zaira & Marsel Mis Collection, as the head of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's France, Thomas Bompard, explains.
"We are naturally delighted that Zaira and Marsel Mis were so handsomely rewarded for assembling such a strong and bold collection," he said.
Stefano Moreni, head of contemporary art at Sotheby's France, added: "A collection of Belgian provenance sold by a British auctioneer in a Paris saleroom with buyers from around the globe: this sale summed up what Sotheby's France is all about!"
To discover the investment potential of the art world click here.
