Amalia (1918-2021) was born in Switzerland into a family of art patrons – her father was an acquaintance of Paul Klee whose work influenced Amalia’s own art.
She later emigrated to the US to marry her fiancé Hans de Schulthess, living first in New York, where she renewed her friendship with Piet Mondrian and became his patron, and settling ultimately in Beverly Hills where she continued to produce art.
Magritte’s 2ft 4¾ x 1ft 11¾ in (73 x 60cm) signed oil on canvas, Torse nu dans les nuages, dates from c.1937, the period when the artist was gaining prominence having had a solo exhibition in New York and when Surrealism was at its height in European art circles.
It features two of Magritte’s favourite motifs: a female nude figure (in this case truncated to a torso and painted blue with watery elements to the lower half) and fluffy white clouds which float past the figure. These combine to create a characteristically enigmatic image, playing on the artist’s trademark characteristics of illusion and unusual juxtapositions executed in a flat style of paintwork.
De Schulthess is thought to have acquired the painting in c.1950 from the Esther Robles Gallery in Los Angeles, who also represented de Schulthess’ own work. Prior to that it was with the Copley Galleries in Los Angeles where it featured in an exhibition of 30 works by Magritte held in 1948.
The price for the painting, which was subject to a third-party guarantee/irrevocable bid, was towards the upper end of Bonhams’ $6m-9m estimate.
The result for Torse nu dans les nuages follows on from the recent sale in Paris of another classic Surrealist work by Magritte: L’Art de la Conversation from c.1950.
That work, also subject to a third-party guarantee/irrevocable bid, was sold by Sotheby’s Paris rooms on October 26 for €10.7m/£9.07m (see ATG No 2517).
£1 = $1.32/€1.17
