Art Market Italy: Christie's new tack in Milan

Last fall Christie's canceled its traditional November sale, while the one held by Sotheby's did not reach the expected results. Christie's came back in the spotlight with a highly selected offering. The new formula aims at offering a smaller choice of very high-quality works, with excellent provenance histories and lots that haven't been on the market before. Therefore, the number of lots is lower than in the past (95 lots) and the selection is rigorous. The purpose is to resemble London's famous "Italian Sales," which every year in October are a big success at the international level.

As a matter of fact, the buyers of the works at Milan's sale were collectors from 15 different nations in four continents.

The protagonists of the auction were Lucio Fontana and Giorgio de Chirico. Fontana was represented by a consistent group of works and signed the best result of the sale with the work Concetto spaziale, Attese, a composition of three cuts on red background that was sold for €757,200 from an estimate of €500,000-700,000.

The work was owned by German collector Claus Gorges, a great admirer of Fontana. On their first meeting in 1965, in the artist's studio in Milan, the collector was so impressed by Fontana's work and personality that he immediately bought two canvases and two sculptures. Later Gorges bought more works and eventually owned 12 of them. Speaking of Fontana's cuts, Gorges said: "Fontana opened those doors and I crossed them," underlining the spiritual dimension of the work.

Giorgio De Chirico was represented by various works, as well. Two of them sold for €568,200 each. They are works from the 1960s that represent the second-highest price at auction: Le muse inquietanti, from 1960 (estimate €400,000-600,000) and Ettore e Andromaca, from 1969 (estimate €500,000-700,000).

The first presents a classic theme of the metaphysics that De Chirico has reproduced more times in his career. The first representation of the subject dates back to 1916-17, in a painting that was given to artist Giorgio Castelfranco. Later Castelfranco refused to transfer the painting to Paul Eluard and his wife, Gala, thus De Chirico reproduced it in 1924, and this was the first of many versions to come.

Ettore e Andromaca is also a metaphysical subject of the beginning of the century (1917) that recurs more and more times in De Chirico's career. It is part of a self-quoting process that characterizes the whole oeuvre of the artist.

The auction has reconfirmed the success on the market of Alberto Burri's combustions: lot Bianco plastic has doubled the estimate of €180,000-250,000 and was sold for €391,800. While before the most requested works by Burri were the "Sacks", today the "Combustions" are very successful on the market and reach prices in the millions.

Other artists who did well were Afro, with a landscape sold for €328,800; Enrico Castellani, whose Superficie Bianca doubled the estimate of €150,000-200,000 and sold for €316,200; and Piero Dorazio, whose work Tira e Molla also doubled its estimate of €90,000-130,000 and sold for €209,100.

Among the most important works on sale was the first Self-portrait by Giacomo Balla, which portrays the artist at the age of 23 and presents already that attention for the light, which is typical for the Italian master. This was the first time that this work appeared on the market. The seller had bought it directly from Balla's house in 1997. From an estimate of €100,000-150,000 the painting was sold for €139,800.

Another work on the market for the first time was the sculpture Concerto by Ettore Colla from 1954-57. It is considered one of the best creations by the artist and represents a rarity, considering that in the 18 years in which Colla created assemblages with found materials, he produced only 90 sculptures. The work sold for €127,200 within the estimate of €120,000-180,000.

Sotheby's, for its part, will hold its Milan's Spring sale May 22-23.

Art Market Italy: Photography from Vittorio Sella to Man Ray

Already the first lot on sale is interesting: it is a landscape by Vittorio Sella, mountaineer and photographer, which has an estimate of €2,000 to 2,500. It is in an important work for its panoramic format, which is appreciated by collectors, but also for its subject, the Karakorum. "Vittorio Sella is mentioned by a great American photographer Ansel Adams as one of his masters. Still, prices for works by Adams are tremendously higher than those for Sella. It is a sign of the strength of the market for American photography, not only in comparison to the Italian one but also to the French and English one, because it is supported by museums and scientific publications. There is a much stronger photography culture than here," said Berselli.

For sale from the same period are photographs by Wilhelm von Gloeden and Guglielmo Von Plüschow, two German cousins who settled in South Italy and became famous for their voyeuristic portraits of boys that carry a homosexual sensuality. These two photographers are very much in demand in France and Germany. Estimates range between €300 and €1,000 (lots 4-7 and 12-14).

In some cases the level of specialization of collectors is so high that they look at just one subject. It is the case of collectors of photographs picturing Josephine Baker. Minerva auctions offers some of them between €300-500 (lots 20-26). Also collectors of photographs related to cinema are very specialized. For them the auction has portraits of cinema stars like Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni (lots 119-142, estimate between €100-600).

Fashion photography, which is the strongest genre in photography if you discard those contemporary artists working with photography who set millionaire prices, is represented by Jeanloup Sieff and Frank Horvat, while Horst P. Horst is represented by a still life (lot 116), carrying an estimate of €3,500-4,000, and by a portrait of Elsa Schiapparelli (lot 117), estimated €2,500-3,000.

French photography is represented by Sabine Weiss and Henri Cartier Bresson. There are some portraits of Giacometti by Sabine Weiss, which are generally interesting for collectors of contemporary art (lots 34-35, estimate between €900-1,200).

Among the best-known names there is also Man Ray with a photograph carrying the highest estimate among those on offer: Mélancolie, from 1926, estimated between €5,000 and 8,000. The negative of the image is from 1926, while the print is from 1974, but is still contemporary to the artist, who died in 1976. A similar photograph was exhibited at Centre Pompidou.

Italian photography is represented by photographers of the first half of the century, both the portraitists and the most experimental ones. These are names that are not so well-known in Italy, but are well-marketed in the United States, like Mario Prandi, Giacinto Oriani, Elio Luxardo and Domenico Ricardo Peretti-Griva (lots 64-85). There is also Ghitta Carell, who was a Jew, but was also Mussolini’s photographer. Susan Sontag mentioned her as a photographer with an acute eye. Rome-based institution Pastificio Cerere is giving her a solo show starting on April 18.

There are also photographers from the 1940s and 1950s, those from the Neorealism, like Mario De Biasi and Pepi Merisio.

The auction includes a section dedicated to color photography, with an important abstract image by Luigi Veronesi (lot 148, estimate €2,800-3,500) and also to contemporary photography.

Art Market Italy: Design auction at Della Rocca in Turin

The break in activity refined his style, which became less surrealistic and more mature. The space is planned with rigorous geometry and controlled composition, while the furniture inside it takes organic and natural shapes.

A chandelier from one of these two famous apartments, the one of Franca and Guglielmo Minola, is now coming up for sale at Turin-based auction house Della Rocca on April 16, 4 p.m. Italian time.

The chandelier comes from the apartment's dining room and shows the striving for pure proportions that characterizes also the radiator and the mirrors in the same room. Mollino's intention was to create a sort of luminous drain pipe which spreads the light horizontally, indirectly and homogenously on the table. The estimate of the lot is €100,000 to €120,000 (lot 181).

It is the lot with the highest estimate in Della Rocca's design sale. The lowest estimates start at €200. Overall the catalog includes about 350 lots. The auction – which takes place during the internationally renowned Salone del Mobile in Milan, one of the most important fairs for design at global level – was put together from November 2012 until now. It collects pieces both coming from private collections and from dealers. One of the aims of the auction house was to again purpose pieces that have been disregarded or forgotten objects. Furthermore there are lots that are thought not only for specialized collectors, but for interior designers, as well, or lots that are on the marketfor the first time.

As is frequently the case for an Italian design sale, large space is given to lighting. Among the most interesting lots are two chandeliers by Fontana Arte (one of them is lot 159) that are particularly rare because they use neon lights and they are unusually spare, radical and elegant (estimate €2,000-2,500). While lot 183 is a rare table lamp "Mod 573" by Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985).

There is a large selection of Venini chandeliers, as well, which are the strongest and most requested on the market. Venini was born in 1921 in Murano. Its importance comes not only from the mastery of the traditional glass techniques, but also from the capacity of getting out of the schemes, from the openness toward the avant-garde, and from the collaborations with the best designers and artists. For example, lot 165 is a rare chandelier from 1940 designed by Tomaso Buzzi (1900-1981). It carries an estimate between €9,000-11,000. Lot 171 is a floor lamp designed by Fulvio Bianconi (1915-1996) in 1950. The estimate is €5,000-7,000, which quite conservative. Lot 212 is a chandelier from 1956 by Massimo Vignelli (born in 1931) in brass with three colored hanging lamps. The estimate is €1,800-2,200.

As for furniture, Della Rocca's sale offers among others a collection of lots designed by BBPR for Olivetti. The BBPR office was born in 1932 and immediately became an important point of reference in the Italian culture. It was formed by Gian Luigi Banfi (1910-1945), Lodovico Belgioioso (1909-2004), Enrico Peressutti (1908-1976), and Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909-1969). The four architects were first promoters of the Rationalist movement, but then brought it into question. They were able to work together and individually. They put themselves to use of the community and were active in the political life of Italy. During the war they were called to the army, but were arrested as anti-fascists. One of them, Banfi, was killed in a concentration camp.

Their body of work is very heterogeneous. In the 1950s they worked for the industry but they also collaborated with artists. In the 1960s they designed a series of metal furniture for the office for Olivetti, which was awarded with "Compasso d'Oro" in 1962.

"From the point of view of the market, these furniture pieces are still undervalued," said Della Rocca's design expert Giacomo Abate. "Similar office furniture from the same years by French Jean Prouvé achieve much higher prices."

Another important lot in the sale is the so-called "Sitzmachine" by Vienna Secessionist Joseph Hoffmann (1870-1956), an armchair in beechwood from 1906 estimated between €3,000-5,000. It has been some time since it has appeared on the market.

A particular attention in assembling the sale was paid to the authenticity of the objects as many copies circulate on the international market.

"Most of our clients are from abroad," says Giacomo Abate. "Our auction house has an excellent reputation and is well known also at international level. The strongest sector is the one for Old Masters, but the good repute reflects itself in the modern sector, as well."

Art Market Italy: The rare wine market

Q: Which are the most distinguished bottles that you are offering? What is their estimate, and why are they important?

A: We are going to open the auction with a selection of Italian wines. Among these, one of the most exquisite ones certainly is a magnum bottle of Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido from 1985, carrying an estimate of €1,500. It is very sought-after both because of the year, and because of the format. Thanks to the excellent preservation status of the bottle, the sale of this lot can reach very good results, or even double the estimate.

Q: And among the French wines?

A: The catalog is mostly composed of very fine French wines. Among these, I would point out lot 184, a selection of three bottles of Burgundy Domaine Leroy that includes a Musigny Grand Cru from 1994 (estimate €1,200-1,300); and lot 204, a Montrachet Grand Cru Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990 (estimate €1,000-1,200). Furthermore there is a selection of Bordeaux from the excellent year 1982, all in magnum format (lots 229, 230, 232, 234, 235, 236). Estimates go from €500 to €1,500, but there are high chances that they will reach considerable results. Another very interesting lot is an original wood box of Château Lafite Rothschild 1986 (lot 219), which starts from a very competitive price: €5,500-6,500.

Q: How much is the total estimate of the auction and the total number of lots?

A: There are 270 lots on offer. The low estimate is around €240,000-250,000. Generally the turnover achieves an increase of around 80 percent.

Q: Which bottles represent a good investment?

A: We select our offer very carefully. All wines on sale are very valuable and sought-after on the international market, therefore all these bottles represent a good investment.

Q: Which bottles do reach the highest prices on the market?

A: Among the wines from Tuscany, the most requested certainly are the Supertuscans, like Ornellaia, Masseto and Sassicaia. Among the wines from Piedmont, Barolo and Amarone. The French market is dominated by the Burgundy and Bordeaux, in particular by the great Châteaux like Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion, Latour, Margaux, and Romanée Conti.

Q: Who are the buyers? Are they Italian or foreigners?

A: Thanks to the Internet, in the last years there has been an increase of foreign buyers. For example we have many clients from Hong Kong, Germany, U.S., and Brazil. But there are also Italian restaurants and brokers.

Q: How did the market of rare wines develop in the last years?

A: For the last four or five years, the major buyers have been coming from China. Initially they bought only the most well-known French labels for prices that were often much higher than the real market value at that moment. In the last two years we have noticed an increased consciousness that has brought the same clients to buy in a more focused and informed way.

Q: Which is Pandolfini's history in this segment?

A: We started holding rare wines auctions in 1999. Until 2003 we collaborated with Gambero Rosso. During these years we organized annual auctions of fine and rare wines at the Hilton Hotel and the Città del Gusto in Rome. We have invested in a sector that was still quite neglected. The gamble has proved itself to be a winner.

Q: How many sales do you hold a year?

A: Two sales, one in October together with Espresso magazine and Pitti Immagine, and one in March. For this sale we usually organize a sampling of important wines from Italian houses with a buffet offered by Enoteca Pinchiorri. On March 20, on the occasion of Ornellaia's 25th anniversary, during the wine sampling we will present for the first time the exclusive Ornellaia 2010 bottle in imperial format. Marquise Ferdinando Frescobaldi will be present. The event is by invitation only.

Q: And which auction records have you reported?

A: During the last October auction, in 2012, we sold a bottle of Romanée-Conti Grand Cru Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1996 for €9,000. On the same occasione we sold four bottles of Echézeaux Grand Cru H. Jayer 1988 for €6,600 and, for the same amount, 12 bottles of Château Mouton Rothschild 1986.

Q: Which is the role of Italy on the international market of rare wines?

A: Until some time ago, Italy was in a secondary position compared to the most important market places such as London, Paris, and New York, both for the kind of lots offered, and for the average prices at auction. This gap is rapidly being reduced.