The Lovers Auction History
Magritte’s The Lovers (1928) has no recorded public auction sale: a 1953 Brussels offering was withdrawn. It sold privately to Richard S. Zeisler in 1958 and entered MoMA by bequest in 1998. No reliable price has been published for this specific canvas. It is now held and exhibited by The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
- Artwork
- The Lovers
- Artist
- Rene Magritte
- Best-known sale or transfer
- 1958 private sale to Richard S. Zeisler (price not disclosed)
- Sale type
- No known public sale
- Current location / owner
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Auction and Ownership Timeline
Painted in Paris (CR 250)
Paris
Magritte painted The Lovers (Les Amants), oil on canvas, 54 × 73.4 cm; catalogued as Sylvester/Whitfield CR 250. [2]
In the collection of Jean Bastien
Brussels
By 1953 the painting was with Jean Bastien, Brussels; its ownership links to the Galerie Georges Giroux listing later that year. [1]
Listed at Galerie Georges Giroux (withdrawn)
Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels
Offered as 'Les Amants', lot 333, Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels; annotated 'withdrawn' in E.L.T. Mesens’s copy—no sale occurred. [1]
Loan: L’Apport wallon au surréalisme
Liège
While owned by Fernand Graindorge (Liège), the work was lent to L’Apport wallon au surréalisme (Oct–Nov 1955), listed as Les amants [I]. [1]
With Richard L. Feigen Gallery
Chicago
By 1958 the painting was with Richard L. Feigen Gallery, Chicago. [1]
Private sale to Richard S. Zeisler
Chicago/New York
Sold privately by Richard L. Feigen Gallery to Richard S. Zeisler in September 1958. [1]
Exhibited at MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Shown at MoMA in Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage while in the Zeisler Collection. [3]
Bequest to MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Bequeathed by Richard S. Zeisler to The Museum of Modern Art; accession no. 530.1998. [1]
Featured in Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary
The Museum of Modern Art, New York (and subsequent venues)
Included in the exhibition Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938; checklist confirms identification as CR 250. [2]
On view at MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
MoMA lists the work as on view in Gallery 517; the collection record confirms current ownership and details. [1]
Provenance and Ownership
1928: Painted in Paris; identified as Sylvester/Whitfield CR 250 with dimensions 54 × 73.4 cm. [2]
By 1953: In the collection of Jean Bastien, Brussels; listed as lot 333 in the Galerie Georges Giroux sale of 17 Oct 1953 but annotated as withdrawn (no sale). [1]
1950s (undated): Associated in the provenance with E.L.T. Mesens (Brussels/London) and Hecker Jensen (Basel), per dealer records cited by MoMA. [1]
1955–1956: With Fernand Graindorge (Liège); lent to exhibitions in Liège (1955) and Charleroi (1956). [1]
By 1958: With Richard L. Feigen Gallery, Chicago; sold privately to Richard S. Zeisler in September 1958. [1]
1998: Bequest of Richard S. Zeisler to The Museum of Modern Art, New York (acc. 530.1998). The work was featured in MoMA’s 1968 Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage and in Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938. [1][3][2]
Quick Facts
- Last known sale
- September 1958
- Known sale price
- Not publicly reported
- Sale type
- Private sale
- Venue / institution
- Richard L. Feigen Gallery, Chicago
- Current owner or location
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Publicly viewable?
- Yes
Why This Sale Matters
No public auction price exists for this exact canvas: its only documented auction appearance at Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels (17 Oct 1953) was withdrawn, and subsequent transfers—to Richard S. Zeisler in 1958 and then to MoMA via bequest in 1998—were private or institutional. Accordingly, there is no reliable published price for this work. Its significance rests on art-historical stature and institutional placement rather than market benchmarks. [1][3]
The painting’s profile has been shaped by major exhibitions—most notably MoMA’s Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage (1968) and Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938—both of which reinforced the work’s canonical status and precise identification as CR 250. Once a work enters a leading museum’s collection, it typically leaves the market permanently, which limits direct price discovery but enhances scholarly and cultural value. [2][3][1]
For broader context, Magritte’s market has achieved high prices for other works. L’Empire des lumières set an artist and category record at $121.16m at Christie’s in 2024, following a £59.422m result for another version at Sotheby’s in 2022; earlier, Le Principe du plaisir realized $26.8m in 2018, and Le Banquet achieved $18.1m in 2024. These figures demonstrate strong demand at the top end but should not be conflated with this museum-held Lovers. [4][5][6][7] Multiple 1928 Lovers compositions exist (e.g., a separate version in the National Gallery of Australia), so provenance and catalogue raisonné numbers are critical when assessing comparables. [8][2]
Related Pages
Other auction histories by Rene Magritte
Sources
- The Lovers (Les Amants), 1928 — MoMA Collection — The Museum of Modern Art
- Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926–1938 — Checklist (PDF) — The Museum of Modern Art
- Dada, Surrealism and Their Heritage (1968) — MoMA Catalogue (PDF) — The Museum of Modern Art
- Christie’s Press Release — L’Empire des lumières sets $121.16m record (Nov 19, 2024) — Christie’s
- Light and Day: Magical Magritte Makes History at Sotheby’s — Sotheby’s
- 100 Years After the First World War: Auction Records Fall... — Sotheby’s
- Sotheby’s Modern Evening Sale: Carrington record; notable Magritte result — The Art Newspaper
- René Magritte — Les Amants [The lovers], 1928 — NGA Canberra (index) — National Gallery of Australia