Magritte painting fetches $26.8 million in NY

A painting by Rene Magritte sold for USD 26.8 million Monday at a Sotheby's auction in New York, setting a record for a work by the Belgian surrealist.

The painting entitled "Le principe du plaisir" topped the price fetched by "La corde sensible", which was sold in February 2017 in London for USD 17.9 million.

Sotheby's had estimated the painting sold Monday as being worth 15 to 20 million dollars. It said seven collectors - an unusually high number - bid for it. Other paintings on offer on the second night of the autumn art auctions in New York also surpassed their estimated value.

"Improvisation on Mahogany" by Russian-born Wassily Kandinsky, fetched USD 24.2 million, compared to its pre-sale estimate of 15-20 million dollars. A painting that was supposed to be one of the main attractions of the auction failed to lure a buyer.

It was Marsden Hartley's "Pre-War Pageant", considered to be one of the first totally abstract works in the history of American art.

It was estimated at USD 30 million, nearly five times the record for that US painter.

On Sunday, the Vincent Van Gogh Painting "Coin de jardin avec papillons", estimated at USD 40 million, went begging at a Christie's auction of Impressionist and Modern art.

The fall art auctions continue through Thursday evening.