=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/05/05/i= nternational2035EDT0751.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, May 5, 2003 (AP) Bankrupt airline sells Magritte painting for $3.8 million (05-05) 17:35 PDT BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- A painting by the Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte -- featuring a bird whose body is filled with clouds -- was sold at auction Monday for $3.8 million. The picture, a prized possession of Belgium's bankrupt airline Sabena, went to an anonymous buyer for almost $1.12 million more than auctioneers expected. Sabena commissioned Magritte to paint "L'Oiseau de Ciel," or "Sky Bird" = in 1965. The image of a stylized bird in flight over an illuminated runway, its body filled with clouds against a light-blue sky, appeared in Sabena advertising campaigns and became the carrier's symbol. Some people have referred to it as a national icon. Auction house represenative Francois de Jonckheere said the mystery bidd= er was a family friend of a "well-known and patriotic Belgian industrialist." The go-between who bid on the painting for the buyer said it would remain in Belgium but gave no other details. Sabena put up the Magritte up for auction along with 461 other pieces. T= he carrier filed for bankruptcy in November 2001. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP