20th Century Italian Art, Sale 4 April 2008 | News | Artcurial

20th Century Italian Art

Sale 4 april 2008

10 March 2008

Alberto Burri (1905-1995)
Catrame, 1950: Technique mixte sur toile; 65 x 80 cm; Estimation: €360,000-420,000

With Rome asserting itself on the international art scene – witness the recent launch of its Road to Contemporary Art fair (February 28–March 2) – Artcurial | Briest - Poulain - F. Tajan are staging their third sale of Italian Contemporary Art on April 4.

The sale runs to just over a hundred works, mostly consigned from private European collections (notably from Italy, Belgium and France), and has a total estimate of €2-2.7m.

Heading the auction is an extremely rare work by Alberto Burri (1915-95) – one of his first catrami (tar paintings): his 1950 Catrame, oil and tar with mixed media on canvas 65 x 80cm (estimate €360,000-420,000). This work sees Burri abandon figurativism and the traditional medium of paint, leading an informal, matiériste type of art, almost unknown in the context of Italian artistic research of the time.

Carla Accardi
Verderosso, 1963: Technique mixte sur toile; 80 x 100 cm; Estimation: €60,000-80,000

Another rare work is Verderosso (1963) in distemper with casein on canvas, 80 x 100cm, by Carla Accardi (born 1924), one of the greatest Italian abstract artists. His 1960s works seldom come on the market (est. €60,000-80,000).

An exceptionally large work by Antonio Corpora (1909-2004), Follia di Elementi, oil on canvas 130 x 170 cm, with the prestigious date of 1972, should bring €50,000-70,000.

The section devoted to Arte Povera includes such major works as Jannis Kounellis’ Composition 2000, mixed media on metal plaque 100 x 70cm (est. €90,000-100,000); Pino Pascali’s 1967 Untitled Terra-Aqua in mixed media and collage on paper (est. €10,000-15,000); and Gilberto Zorio’s 1995 Stella, in mixed media on hardboard (est. €25,000-35,000).

Jannis Kounellis
Composition, 2000: Technique mixte sur plaque en acier; 100 x 70 cm; Estimation: €90,000-100,000

The Transavanguardia movement, which emerged in the 1980s in reaction to conceptualism, is represented by two fine works by Mimmo Paladino: Svegliarsi ad Oriente (1984), mixed media on panel 70 x 100cm (est. €40,000-50,000); and his 1990 Composition in mixed media on canvas (est. €25,000-35,000).

Other major works include Sandro Chia’s Composition (2000), mixed media on board 134 x 103cm (est. €35,000-45,000); Enzo Cucchi’s electrically equipped Cerca Disegno 3 from 1998, in mixed media on paper (est. €15,000-20,000); and Nicola de Maria’s Testa Sempre in Rivolta (1983-85), oil, collage and mixed media on canvas (est. €40,000-50,000).

Fabrizio Plessi (born 1940), an artist in high demand in Italy today, is represented at the sale by his Studio per la Stanza dei Sassi (1989), oil on canvas 150 x 195cm, consigned by a Swiss collector (est. €10,000-20,000). Agostino Bonalumi (born 1935) is present with one of his hard-to-find works from 1971, a white extruflex Composition measuring 162 x 115cm (est. €70,000-90,000).

The ultra-contemporary Italian scene is represented by the much talked-about Cracking Art movement which, at least for the time being, remains reasonably priced. The sale features five Cracking artists: Alex Angi, Renzo Nucara, Kikko, Marco Veronese & William Sweetlove. Highlights include three works from 2006: Renzo Nucara’s Resinfilm 310, in mixed media and collage (est. €6,000-8,000); Alex Angi’s Plastic Jungle in mixed media (est. €4,000-6,000); and William Sweetlove’s Two Cloned Green Giraffes, in mixed media and resin (est. €4,000-5,000).