Rating and value of works, paintings, drawings by René Magritte

If you own a work by or after René Magritte, and would like to know its value, our state-approved experts and auctioneers will be happy to offer you their appraisal services.

Our specialists will carry out a free appraisal of your work, and provide you with a precise estimate of its current market value.

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Rating and value of the artist René Magritte

The artist René Magritte left behind a unique body of work, consisting mainly of surrealist paintings. Prices for his works are now skyrocketing under auctioneers' gavels.

His paintings are highly prized, especially by English and American buyers. The price at which they sell on the art market ranges from €10 to €61,972,885, a very wide range, but one that speaks volumes about the value that can be attributed to Magritte's works.

In 2022, his oil on canvas La voix du sang sold for €22,936,635, against an estimate of €12,000,000 to €17,000,000. His value has been at its highest in recent years.

Order of value from a simple work to the most prestigious

Style and technique of the artist René Magritte

Magritte worked with printmaking, drawing, photography and sculpture. Along with Dali and Ernst of the Surrealist movement. He was also a gifted writer, producing poems and powerful titles for his works.

Magritte, a major figure of surrealism

Belgian artist René François Ghislain Magritte was born in Belgium in 1898. His parents were tailors and milliners, and fashion had a major influence on his work. He grew up in Châtelet, Belgium, where he took painting lessons from Félicien Defoin.

He showed an early interest in cinema and photography at an exhibition, and later produced posters for advertising and the cinema. In 1912, his mother committed suicide when he was just 14.

Unlike Dali, Magritte did not believe in psychoanalysis, and his work was above his traumas. He produced works that were almost mechanical in essence, imbued with a certain transcendence in order to represent the unrepresentable.

The work that probably best illustrates his approach is La condition humaine, which takes on its full meaning when you read the title.

After his mother's death, his upbringing was entrusted to a governess, whom his father Léopold married. Bored with his life in Charleroi after the war, he moved to Brussels, near the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, to study drawing and painting.

He also took courses in literature. He lived in financial opulence thanks to his father, and met a number of art world figures, including Cubists and Futurists. In 1922, he married Georgette Berger, whom he had met six years earlier and lost touch with.

She was a major influence on his work, and he painted several portraits of her. After a brief stay in Paris following his father's imprisonment, he set up his own business in Brussels, working for advertising agencies.

His career really took off when he met the Surrealists in Paris. André Breton, Salvador Dali and Max Ernst were to influence him greatly. He held numerous exhibitions back in Brussels until the end of his life. He became very famous and appreciated by the general public.

He died of cancer at the age of 68.

Birth, history and role of surrealism

At the end of the First World War, a group of avant-garde artists emerged from Expressionism in Berlin: Dada (not a movement as such, but a gathering of artists each working with their own diverse influences).

Its beginnings date back to 1915, thanks to the Literary Manifesto published by Hugo Ball and Richard Huelsenbeck. They call themselves negativists - saying they don't believe in progress. In reality, it's about rejecting reason and established conventions in art and society.

Tristan Tzara came up with the group's name after brainstorming a simple word in every language and digging through a dictionary, needing to place a qualification on the growing group of artists.

Dada was originally inspired by the mechanisms of dreams, automatism and the unconscious. Magritte rejected these highly psychic origins, even though Surrealism followed in the wake of Dada and its need for revolt.

Surrealism was really born in 1924, with a manifesto by André Breton. He spoke of "pure psychic automatism - through which we propose to express the real functioning of thought".

The aim, according to Breton, is to "definitively ruin all other psychic mechanisms and to replace them in the resolution of life's main problems". This part of the manifesto is particularly relevant to Magritte's approach.

The aim is to bring painting and poetry closer together, to represent what cannot be represented. Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Richter and Hoffman are all writing-oriented sources of Surrealism (poetry, literature, philosophy).

They are then combined with the painting influences of Symbolist artists such as Odilon RedonGustave Moreau and Jérôme Bosch. It was actually Guillaume Apollinaire who first used the word in place of supernaturalism.  

Magritte's working method

René Magritte imposed a unique style through the way he composed his paintings and chose his subjects. Contrary to the common belief that surrealist art should be ethereal or irrational, Magritte adopted a methodical, precise approach.

His works are characterized by a juxtaposition of ordinary elements in extraordinary contexts, challenging the usual perceptions of reality. Each painting appears to be a visual enigma, a puzzle in which everyday objects are depicted with photographic clarity, but placed in disconcerting situations.

The artist plays with ambiguity, transforming banal scenes into something disturbing or mysterious. For example, in La Trahison des images, he depicts a pipe with the caption Ceci n'est pas une pipe, illustrating the difference between the real object and its representation.

Magritte often explores themes of identity, illusion and consciousness through repeated images such as bowler hats, windows and human figures whose faces are concealed.

The often poetic titles of his works add a layer of complexity, forcing viewers to question what they see and wonder what these unusual combinations might mean.

With this approach, Magritte deconstructs reality to reveal what he calls "the mystery", a reality hidden beyond appearances. His paintings, far from being mere surrealist representations, thus become philosophical instruments, inviting everyone to reflect deeply on the nature of perception and of reality itself.

René Magritte in ten secrets

René Magritte's imprint on his period

Magritte marked his time with his provocative spirit and constant artistic renewal. He played a major role in the evolution of the 20th-century Surrealist group, and experimented with new artistic techniques throughout his life.

He is one of the few artists to have reconciled painting and writing, which makes his work unique and particularly famous.

Today, his work is highly prized at auction, and collectors play a major role in preserving his work, even if some of it is exhibited in museums.  

Recognizing the artist's signature

Not all of Magritte's works are signed. They may be at the bottom of the painting, but if you think you own one, it's best to have it appraised to be sure of its originality. What's more, there are an enormous number of copies.

Knowing the value of a work

If you happen to own a work by or after René Magritte, don't hesitate to request a free appraisal using the form on our website. A member of our team of experts and certified auctioneers will contact you promptly to provide you with an estimate of the market value of your work, as well as any relevant information about it. If you wish to sell your work of art, our specialists will also be on hand to offer you alternatives for selling it at the best possible price, taking into account market trends.