On October 22, in London Christie’s will auction Pino Pascali’s Contraerea (1965) and Fontana’s Spatial Concept, Form (1957)
Thanks to a long-standing international appetite for Italian modern art, for 20 years, Christie’s has obtained outstanding results during its annual Italian sale. This year, on October 22nd, the auction house will present a new format ‘Thinking Italian Art and Design’. The strategic choice brings together the best examples of these two intimately connected categories. Thus, the new Thinking Italian conforms with the fortunate trend of the crossover auctions. These give life to original dialogues full of ideas mixing several types of collectibles. Indeed, the years of the post-war reconstruction in Italy saw an intense explosion of creative energy that only an auction of this kind can successfully render.
Italian modern art: for 20 years, Christie’s has obtained outstanding results during its annual Italian sale
Mariolina Bassetti, Chairman, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Continental Europe explains: “Christie’s is committed to providing an international platform dedicated to showcasing the creative forces that unfolded across Italy throughout the 20th century. This year, on the occasion of our 20th Italian sale, we are thrilled to extend this to a dialogue that explores the talents that worked in design alongside the artistic movements that developed. (…) We are therefore delighted to present Pino Pascali’s ‘Contraerea’ and Lucio Fontana’s ‘Concetto Spaziale, Forma’ as highlights of our new sale concept and look forward to welcoming visitors to our King Street galleries to view the works this October.”
Standing over a meter in height, ‘Concetto Spaziale, Forma’ (1957) __is a rare and elegant masterpiece in lustrous gold-painted iron belonging to a series of eight unique stemmed sculptures. ‘Contraerea’ (1965) is a seminal sculpture from Pino Pascali’s iconic series of Armi (Weapons). Both works will be on display, until the date of the auction, at Christie’s King Street. The exhibition, will showcase the rich and beautiful dialogues that flourished within 20th century Italian visual culture.
Ilona Catani Scarlett