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Saudi Culture Ministry Commemorates Conclusion of ‘Year of Arabic Poetry 2023’

The Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture
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Saudi Culture Ministry Commemorates Conclusion of ‘Year of Arabic Poetry 2023’

The Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture

The Saudi Ministry of Culture has celebrated the conclusion of the "Year of Arabic Poetry 2023" initiative, which was supervised by the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission (LPTC).
During the celebration ceremony, which was held at Mayadeen Hall – Diriyah and was attended by the CEO of LPTC, Dr. Mohammed Hasan Alwan, and several senior officials, the Commission’s partners who contributed to the programs of the Year of Arabic Poetry were honored.
The "Year of Arabic Poetry 2023" emerged with pride in its authentic Arabic content and its pivotal value in Arab culture throughout the history of the Arabs. It is rooted in the influence of the Arabian Peninsula, which has been a historical home for poetry and poets, serving as a wellspring of literary masterpieces since ancient times.
Through the Year of Arabic Poetry, the Ministry of Culture has endeavored to support Arab poetry, celebrating both its historical and contemporary poets.
This initiative aims to illuminate various poetic genres and purposes while improving its significance in life and society.
The Ministry has achieved this through a series of cultural initiatives, activities, and events held throughout the year.

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Magritte Painting Nets Auction Record of $121 Million

Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Magritte Painting Nets Auction Record of $121 Million

Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)

A painting by Rene Magritte shattered an auction record for the surrealist artist on Tuesday, selling for more than $121 million at Christie's in New York.

The seminal 1954 painting had been valued at $95 million, and the previous record for a work by Magritte (1898-1967) was $79 million, set in 2022.

After a nearly 10-minute bidding war on Tuesday, "Empire of Light" ("L'Empire des lumieres") was sold for $121,160,000, "achieving a world-record price for the artist and for a surrealist work of art at auction", according to auction house Christie's.

The painting -- depicting a house at night, illuminated by a lamp post, while under a bright, blue sky -- is one of a series by the Belgian artist showing the interplay of shadow and light.

"Empire of Light" was part of the private collection of Mica Ertegun, an interior designer who fled communist Romania to settle in the United States where she became an influential figure in the arts world.

She died in late 2023 and was married to the late Ahmet Ertegun, the music magnate who founded the Atlantic Records label.

The sale of the Magritte painting was an expected highlight of this week's autumn sales season in New York, at a time when the art market has seen a slowdown since last year.

Christie's -- which is controlled by Artemis, the investment holding company owned by the Pinault family -- said sales totaled $2.1 billion in the first half of this year.

That is down for the second straight year, after a peak of $4.1 billion in 2022 as the world emerged from the coronavirus pandemic.

During the same Christie's auction on Tuesday, a celebrated 1964 painting of a gas station by 86-year-old Ed Ruscha, titled "Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half," sold for $68.26 million, setting a new auction record for the American pop artist.