17/10/2001
by Elena Balzani

For the third year running Sotheby’s, London is devoting an evening auction to Italian art of the 20th century on the 22nd of October, with a sale of 58 lots covering a century of artistic production and offering a window onto emerging Italian art. The sale starts with Ottone Rosai and closes with Vanessa Beecroft and in between are paintings by Severini, Balla, De Chirico, Morandi and sculptures by Manzù. Other notable works include Achrome by Manzoni, several Concetto Spaziale by Fontana and superfici (surfaces) by Castellani. Members of the "Arte Povera" and "Transavanguardia" movements will be there, as well as the new bete-noir of Italian contemporary art, Maurizio Cattelan, along with Grazia Toderi, with her first international auction appearance.

Sotheby’s is relying on safe names in these troubled times. Of note are a study of a dancer by Gino Severini and Force lines of the sea by Giacomo Balla. The Severini study is estimated at $ 145,000-218,000 (€ 158,000-238,000), was exhibited this summer at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice and was used as a model for a larger painting inspired by Parisian vaudeville. The Balla is estimated at $ 200,000-300,000 (€ 317,000-475,000) and is part of a group of fourteen works, all seascapes produced in canvas and paper, that the artist executed while on holiday in Tuscany in 1919. Another important piece is Le muse inquietanti (1958) by De Chirico, which is estimated at $ 247,000-349,000 (€ 269,000-380,000). Coming from the William C. Fleming collection in New York and purchased in 1960, it is a reworking of one of the artist’s canvases dating from 1917. Other versions of this painting date from 1924 to the 1960’s.

Sotheby’s have a small showing of Fontana’s slashed canvasses, including one on a white background, with an estimate of $ 320,000-436,000 (€ 349,000-475,000). The auction house has a number of his "stones" series such as Natura and another on a blue background from 1954. A year ago, at Sotheby’s, London a "holes and stones" work on a red background fetched a record $ 1,075,800 (€ 1,203,000). Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale, Natura series dating from 1959 are among his lesser valued works and four are on offer with estimates between $ 58,000 and $ 350,000 (€ 63,500-380,000). More rare still is the 1957 Concetto Spaziale. One of a series of eight sculptures made for the Venice Biennale in 1958 when one room was dedicated to him, this piece has an estimate of $ 436,000-538,000 (€ 475,000-635,000).

After promotion at the "Zero to Infinity" show at the Tate Modern in London earlier this year, "Arte Povera" collectors will be awaiting the market’s response with bated breath. Further proof of the renewed interest in this movement is shown by the current exhibition of 17 "Arte Povera" works at the Castello di Rivoli in Turin. These pieces were donated to the museum by a Turin bank, the Fondazione CRT Cassa di Risparmio di Torino after they were purchased from the famous Stein collection, with a collective estimate of $ 2.3 million (€ 2.6 million).

"Arte Povera" works in the Sotheby’s sale carry estimates from $ 14,500 to $ 290,000 (€ 15,800-317,000). Star by Gilberto Zorio is available at $ 14,500 (€ 15,800), while Parcelled Italy by Luciano Fabro is quoted between $ 290,000 and $ 436,000 (€ 317,000-475,000). This work showing the Italian peninsular dates from 1970. Making use of different materials, the artist plays with the shape of the Italian national map or "boot", turning it upside down, or, as in this particular case, inverting and crumpling it. Also not to be missed is one of Michelangelo Pistoletto’s "mirror paintings" called Attesa 4 at $ 40,700-51,000 (€ 44,400-55,500) and a large tapestry with the map of the world by Alighiero Boetti at $ 218,000-290,000 (€ 238,000-317,000). More unusual for the market is an installation from 1981 by Giulio Paolini entitled The House of Lucrezio, estimated at $ 116,000-174,000 (€ 127,000-190,000). Inspired by a drawing of a labyrinth traced on the walls of the Latin poet’s casa in Pompei, the Paolini installation is made up of seven white wooden plinths on which fragments of chalk are set. The intention is to reproduce an image of Pompei which is then juxtaposed with plaster heads of angels copied from the 17^th century sculptor, Alessandro Algardi.

As for contemporary works, an acrylic on canvas from 1997 by Maurizio Cattelan, turns a Lucio Fontana slashed canvas into a "Z" Zorro-like work and is estimated at $ 58,000-87,000 (€ 63,500-95,000). New starlette Grazia Toderi gets her first outing with a video from 2000 made in four copies and estimated at $ 10,200-13,000 (€ 11,000-14,300).