Christie's is delighted to present the 25th edition of The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, a highlight of its 20th/21st Century Art London Marquee Week, taking place on 5 March 2026. The auction is the only international sale devoted exclusively to Dada, Surrealism, and their enduring influences. Held by Christie's since 1989 - longer and with greater consistency than any other auction house - The Art of the Surreal is celebrated for the exceptional quality of its offerings. The sale has repeatedly achieved record-breaking results and continues to play a defining role in shaping the market for Surrealist and Dada art. This year's edition brings together an outstanding selection of works that capture the imagination, innovation and enduring power of these revolutionary movements, including highlights from René Magritte, Max Ernst, Odilon Redon, Dorothea Tanning, Joan Miró, Paul Delvaux, and Toyen among others.
Leading the sale is Magritte's Les grâces naturelles (circa 1961; estimate: £6,500,000–9,500,000). Painted in vivid, luminous colour and exhibited at the Magritte Museum in Brussels since its opening in 2009, the work exemplifies the artist's fascination with transformation and visual paradoxes. It features one of his most celebrated motifs: the “leaf-bird,” a hybrid form captured at the moment it shifts between states of being.
Five more works by Magritte will be offered in the sale, including Le choeur des sphinges (1964; estimate: £5,000,000-8,000,000), a playful landscape showcasing Magritte's signature transformations, with five floating forms - including a pipe - hovering above a forest, each rendered with the same woodland texture as the trees below. Executed during the 1960s, the work reflects Magritte's return to his earlier themes, reimagined with greater wit and simplicity, and subtly echoes the collage techniques he first explored in the late 1920s. Completing this grouping is La jeunesse illustrée (1937; estimate: £1,800,000–2,500,000). Set within a tranquil countryside, the painting presents a dreamlike procession of figures and objects whose unexpected relationships invite imaginative interpretation. The work was acquired shortly after Magritte's return from London in 1938 by Paul-Henri Spaak, the future Prime Minister of Belgium, underscoring its early and distinguished provenance.
After the exceptional results achieved for the artist in last year's sale at Christie's in London, two important works by Paul Delvaux are presented. Painted in spring 1944, La Ville lunaire (estimate: £2,000,000–3,000,000) is a striking example of Delvaux's mature Surrealist vision: a meticulously constructed dream world that is at once familiar and deeply enigmatic. Held in the same private collection for over 50 years, the painting was included in Delvaux's first major retrospective at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels in 1944 - organised shortly after the city's liberation - and later shown at the 1954 Venice Biennale, affirming the artist's standing within Belgian Surrealism. Also offered is L'Été (1963; estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000), a serene yet unsettling woodland scene populated by five female figures draped in timeless, colourful garments. The work reflects Delvaux's lifelong fascination with the female form and his engagement with the metaphysical legacy of Giorgio de Chirico, whose fusion of the ancient and the modern helped shape Delvaux's distinctive, dreamlike visual language.
Dorothea Tanning's Children's Games (1942; estimate: £1,000,000–2,000,000) is a powerful example of the artist's early Surrealist work, charged with an unsettling psychological intensity. Painted in 1942, the composition depicts two young girls tearing at the wallpaper of a narrow corridor to reveal a hidden world of exposed flesh beneath, transforming a familiar domestic setting into something disturbing. Created during a period when Tanning was increasingly exploring female sexuality, autonomy and the transition from childhood to adolescence, the work subverts the Surrealist trope of the femme-enfant, presenting its protagonists not as passive figures but as agents of disruption. Children's Games was included in the landmark 'Exhibition by 31 Women' at Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century gallery in New York in 1943, a pioneering show that brought together leading women artists of the period, including Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim, Kay Sage and Leonor Fini. It was acquired directly from Tanning and Ernst (by then married) in January 1948 by the legendary entertainer and queen of burlesque, Gypsy Rose Lee, who was an avid collector of Surrealism and a close friend of the painter's.
Another standout work in the sale comes from a pioneering female artist, Toyen's Le devenir de la liberté (1946; estimate: £1,200,000–2,200,000) is a compelling and enigmatic work by the Czech Surrealist. Executed shortly after Toyen emerged from six years of hiding during World War II, the painting blends dream-like imagery with meticulous detail, depicting a scene in which lush plant life appears to overtake the domestic sphere. At the centre, a dense mass of peas forms a suggestive, partially concealed humanoid figure, recalling the fantastical, hybrid constructions of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, while remaining mysteriously ambiguous. Above, a flock of swallows arcs across a trompe-l'oeil sky, evoking spring and renewal. Having discovered Surrealism in the early 1930s, Toyen quickly established a reputation for imaginative, erotically tinged works that challenged social conventions. Le devenir de la liberté marks one of the first new creations she completed after the war, reflecting her return to avant-garde circles and the ongoing dialogue between the Czech and Parisian Surrealists.
A key source of inspiration for the Surrealists, Odilon Redon is represented in the sale by two works: charcoal and estompe on paper, La grappe or Le marchand de ballons (estimate: £150,000–250,000) is a recently rediscovered drawing by the artist from his celebrated noirs series. Formerly owned by his friend, the painter Émile Bernard, the work dates to the 1870s–1890s, when Redon's dark, haunting imagery established him as a pioneer of the uncanny. Acquired in 1906 by the writer and collector Louis-Charles Libaude, it remained largely unseen until its rediscovery in 2020. Profil bleu (circa 1895; estimate: £500,000–800,000), is a mystical and poetic image exemplifying his visionary approach. Featuring one of his most recognisable motifs - an androgynous figure in profile, absorbed in inward contemplation - the work dates from a pivotal moment when the artist moved away from the dark, macabre imagery of his earlier noirs toward a more luminous language. Redon would repeatedly return to the motif of the dreaming head, often paired with flowers, a theme which later culminated in his celebrated floral still lifes.
Two major highlights from An Eye For The Sublime: The Renker Collection are offered in the sale. Joan Miró's Peinture (1949; estimate: £1,500,000–2,500,000) belongs to his celebrated group of so-called “Slow Paintings”, described by his friend and biographer Jacques Dupin as among the most important series of Miró's career. These works are distinguished by their poetic, whimsical imagery, delicately balanced forms and richly textured, meticulously worked surfaces. From the same collection is Pablo Picasso's Figure (1929; estimate: £600,000–800,000), painted during a period of intense personal and artistic transformation. Inspired by his relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter and shaped by his engagement with Surrealist ideas and his sculptural collaboration with Julio González, the work exemplifies Picasso's radical rethinking of the human form. While remaining independent of the Surrealist movement, Picasso embraced its shared concerns, experimenting with metamorphosis and distortion to forge a powerful new pictorial language.
Completing the sale are two excellent works by Max Ernst. Sun over the desert (1925; estimate: £300,000–500,000) is a highly inventive collage painting depicting the sun casting light over a desert landscape. Created after Ernst's 1924 voyage through the Suez Canal, the work demonstrates his early experiments with semi-automatic techniques and elemental landscapes, both anticipating and foreshadowing many of Ernst's finest works of the later 1920s and early 1930s. Also offered is Le monde des flous – Refus absolu de vivre comme un tachiste (1965; estimate: £350,000–550,000), one of Ernst's most inventive works of the 1960s. A large painted assemblage, it was the centrepiece of his landmark 1965 exhibition at the Alexandre Iolas Gallery in Paris. Incorporating motifs from across his career, the work depicts a sparkling sequence of astronomical constellations, echoing the similarly titled Le monde des naïfs (now in the Centre Pompidou).
Olivier Camu, Deputy Chairman, Impressionist and Modern Art, Christie's:“ The Art of the Surreal has, for over three decades, defined the market for Surrealism, and this 25th edition reaffirms its unique relevance and authority. Bringing together museum-quality works by 15 artists - including René Magritte, Paul Delvaux, Max Ernst, Odilon Redon, and Joan Miró - the sale presents exceptional works from private collections, all fresh to market, with many offered at auction for the first time. Enhanced by standout Surrealist and Dada works from the Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection, this year's Marquee Week evening sales offer a compelling perspective on the enduring power and influence of Surrealist and Dada art.”
Ottavia Marchitelli, Head of The Art of the Surreal Evening Sale, Christie's: “We are thrilled to present two landmark works by Toyen and Dorothea Tanning in this year's sale, highlighting the vital role women played in shaping Surrealism. Toyen's Le devenir de la liberté and Tanning's Children's Games are historically significant works that capture the movement's spirit of transformation, defiance, and imaginative freedom. Their inclusion not only deepens the scope of the auction, but also underscores The Art of the Surreal's ongoing commitment to presenting these two artists as essential voices within Surrealism.”
An exhibition will be on view and open to all in the lead up to the auction, at Christie's London from 25 February to 5 March 2026. More information on christies.com
RENÉ MAGRITTE (1898-1967)
La grande marée
EstimateGBP 1,200,000 - 1,800,000
JOAN MIRÓ (1893-1983)
Peinture
EstimateGBP 1,500,000 - 2,500,000
RENÉ MAGRITTE (1898-1967)Les grâces naturelles
EstimateGBP 6,500,000 - 9,500,000
RENÉ MAGRITTE (1898-1967)
L'esprit et la forme
EstimateGBP 500,000 - 800,000
PAUL DELVAUX (1897-1994)La Ville lunaire
EstimateGBP 2,000,000 - 3,000,000
- DOROTHEA TANNING (1910-2012)
Children's Games
EstimateGBP 1,000,000 - 2,000,000
