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An notable canvas from this famed avant-garde painter Magritte which has stayed in a single private possession for over nine decades is set to go sold in late October.

The Intriguing History Of this Artwork

The painting was originally purchased through the relatives belonging to Suzanne Spaak, a World War II resistance fighter that acted as Magritte's benefactor during a time where Magritte faced difficulties financially and had failed to move a single piece for two years.

She was shot by the Gestapo in the French capital for her efforts to help young Jewish individuals find security.

Sale Projections and Expectations

This auction house has estimated which La Magie Noire could fetch in the range of €5m to €7m, but many anticipate it to reach a greater price.

“It is the first time I’ve managed a major piece by Magritte that has stayed in the same household from it was painted,” remarked a senior art market executive. “It is extraordinary, as is the story behind the owners.”

He also described the painting by saying the superstar in surrealist art,” noting that “If you were to request some schoolchildren to prepare a presentation on the surrealist movement, this painting by itself would be enough to explain it.”

The Artist's Formative Struggles with Professional Development

This Belgian-born painter first was employed as an artist at a wallpaper factory and produced advertising posters until the mid-1920s, at which point Magritte produced his debut avant-garde work.

A year later, he held his debut show in Brussels, but the critics were savage so disheartened the artist relocated to France, where he failed to establish his mark.

Magritte returned to his homeland in 1930 and formed a commercial art business alongside his sibling Paul Magritte.

The artist's life was quite hard during that period. The Great Depression which began in 1929 in America affected France in the early 1930s. Over a two-year span, between 1930 to 1932, Magritte sold nothing and held no exhibitions,” an specialist stated.

No one purchased artworks from surrealist artists. They were viewed as revolutionary troublemakers.”

The Role of his Patrons

Spaak’s husband, Claude, a celebrated Belgian playwright, was acquainted with Magritte acting as a benefactor, commissioning paintings of his wife and children while also arranging regular financial support for Magritte and his household.

By 1934, Suzanne Spaak’s sibling Alice Lorge, called Bunny, acquired the painting to mark the arrival of her newborn with Emile, a Belgian businessman.

This family represented for Belgium what the Mountbattens were for Britain; almost aristocratic and they helped Magritte through hard times,” an art specialist said. “It was bought to commemorate the arrival of a baby but it was a rebirth for the painter as he was trying to recover financially.”

Artistic Details with Meaning

The subject for the series was Magritte’s wife, Georgette Berger, she is depicted in a classical manner resembling a marble statue placing her hand on a block of stone.

Her torso slowly merges with the sky behind her while her lower half retains its natural tone.

The artist went on to paint 10 similar works, many of them received distinct titles. In this work, the first in the series, Berger appears with a bird on her right shoulder.

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

Her Heroic Resistance Work

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

After the Nazi occupation of the French capital, Suzanne became part of the resistance and served as a member in the intelligence network spy ring.

Spaak employed her considerable fortune to save 163 Jewish children from being deported, sheltering several of them in her residence until they could be moved to secure locations.

Final Outcome and Historical Impact

By late 1943, the Nazis captured her together with 600 members of the Red Orchestra.

On August 12, 1944, just before the freeing of the city, the Gestapo executed her in her prison cell. She had been 38 years old and was later been honoured by Israel among the Righteous Among the Nations for her actions to save Jewish people.

Magritte died of pancreatic cancer on 15 August 1967 and is buried in the Belgian capital.

Exhibition with Sale Schedule

The painting, previously shown at the Magritte museum in Brussels, has seldom been exhibited outside Belgium over 90 years.

La Magie Noire will be shown in the French capital between 17 and 23 October prior to the auction on October 24.