28/08/2001
by Federico Ruberti

Although Filippo De Pisis is well known all over the world, and considered among the most important artists in 20^th Century in Italian art, his works rarely appear in the catalogues of auctions held abroad. It is therefore in Italy that the highest hammer prices are achieved. For example Bridge on the Seine was sold for $ 89,600 (€ 101,200) at Christie’s in Milan last May, and Still Life with pestle, shell and fish, reached a record price of $ 132,700 (€ 149,770) at Finarte Milan in November 1997.

The most appreciated works by collectors are his oils on canvas dating from the Thirties and from the beginning of the Forties made in the artist’s typical format of 80 x 60 cm. The best auction results were registered in Italy between 1990-93, when Piazza del Popolo, Rome, painted in 1939, sold for, at the time, about $ 121,000 (Brerarte, Milan) in October 1990; an oil on canvas dating from 1933, The laid table (65 x 92 cm), sold for, at the time, about $ 147,600 (October 1991 by Finarte Chiasso, Switzerland); and finally an oil on canvas from 1935, View of London (75 x 60 cm), sold in March 1993 at Finarte Rome for, at the time, about $ 115,130. It is only from 1999 that significant hammer prices have begun to be reached again. On the 22^nd June 1999, Still Life with a seascape (90 x 64 cm), executed in 1931 sold for $ 121,240 (€ 136,800) at Finarte Milan and, on the 13^th June this year, The table of souvenirs (61 x 81 cm) from 1932 sold for $ 91,500 (€ 103,300) once again at Finarte Milan.

The oils on canvas executed by De Pisis between 1945 and 1956 are generally valued at around $ 45,700 (€ 51,600). The paintings dating from this period were particularly rewarded by the market at the end of the 90s: Milan (1947, oil on canvas, 75 x 55 cm) sold in November 1999 at Christie’s Milan for $ 54,800 (€ 61,900); Cortina (1947, oil on canvas, 77 x 58 cm) sold in November 1998 at Sotheby’s Milan for $ 45,700 (€ 51,600); The Pantheon in Paris (1948, oil on canvas, 74 x 53 cm) was auctioned at Finarte Rome in April 1998 for $ 34,300 (€ 38,700); and finally the oil on canvas Saint Mark’s Square from 1953 (65 x 90 cm) was auctioned in November 1998 by Christie’s New York for $ 88,000 (about € 99,300).

As for his watercolours (a technique rarely used by the artist), the auction results have never been particularly surprising, for works dating from the years 1923-45 as well as for those from the years 1946-56. The most important auction result was obtained in March 1990, when A bouquet of flowers from 1935 (73 x 56 cm) sold at $ 20,000 at Sotheby’s New York. Although on average, the hammer prices of the watercolours are fixed between $ 4,600 and 6,800 (€ 5,160-7,700). On the 6th December 1989 Vase of flowers from 1930 (48 x 31 cm) was sold for, at the time, about $ 8,500 by Christie’s Rome. Likewise the previous year Still life with a vase of flowers and objects on a table from 1940 (65 x 46 cm) reached the same result at Finarte Rome. In November 1996, Vase of flowers from 1935 (73 x 56 cm) was auctioned by Christie’s London for 4,500 pounds (at the time about $ 5,900), against an estimate of 2,000-3,000 pounds. Finally, this year, Pansies from 1935 (35 x 25 cm) was auctioned by Christie’s Milan for $ 6,800 (€ 7,700), against an estimate of $ 3,200-4,600 (€ 3,600-5,160).

Among the works in tempera and the watercolours executed after 1945, the record result belongs to Saint George, Venice (35 x 50 cm), selling in the recent auction held by Farsetti Prato on the 30^th March 2001 for $ 7,300 (€ 8,200). However, in general, the average hammer prices range between $ 3,200 and 4,100 (€ 3,600-4,600): the watercolour dating from 1945, Flowers on the sky (25 x 32 cm), was sold for, at the time, about $ 7,500 by Brerarte Milan in November 1990. Likewise, nine years later, another watercolour from 1949, Rosesin the vase (45 x 3 cm), was auctioned for $ 3,800 (€ 4,300) by Finarte Milan.