TURIN, Italy – On Sept. 25, Turin-based auction house Bolaffi opens the selling season with a colorful auction of antiques, which includes all types of furniture, paintings, porcelain, pottery and silver from the 16th century to Art Déco. About 600 lots will be offered, all coming from private homes and not from antique dealers, thus fresh on the market. There are items from Turin houses, but also from Milan, Naples and even Palermo. Among all, exceptional provenance stands out, especially that of the royal house of Savoy. There are 300 items of Duke Amedeo of Aosta on sale, who is parting with some of the family legacy. So we find, among others, portraits of the royal family, objects from various royal houses of Greece, Spain and Portugal, which were related to the Savoy, silver with royal crests, all with affordable estimates.

Among the paintings, in particular, there is an important one (lot 1269 ) attributed to Dutch painter Jan Kreack, called Giovanni Caracca (Haarlem, documented since 1568 – Turin 1607), who worked at the court of Savoy at the end of the 16th century. It represents the first three children of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, founder of the dynasty Savoy-Carignano, and Catherine Micaela of Habsburg Spain, daughter of King Philip II of Spain. A similar representation, which is considered a later copy, is preserved in an exceptional collection of the Quirinale palace. The painting has a €15,000 estimate.

Three other paintings by French painter Louis Michel van Loo (Toulon 1707-Paris 1771 ) portray the three princesses, daughters of Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy, and his second wife, Polyxena of Hesse-Rotenburg. The French artist studied in Turin and Rome and created these works just before he became court painter to Philip V of Spain in 1733. In one of the three portraits, each one estimated €8,000, Princess Maria Vittoria Felicia feeds a dog with a breadstick, a gesture that emphasizes the primacy of Savoy in the invention of this food. In 1679, as a matter of fact, the court baker Antonio Brunero invented the breadstick under instructions of doctor Theobald Pecchio to feed the young Vittorio Amedeo, who was in poor health and could not digest the crumb of bread.

Among the many curiosities in auction is an automaton from the turn of the 20th century consisting of a clown and an acrobat pig. Nearly a meter and a half high, the automaton (lot 1169, estimate €1,200) could have success among the German collectors, who are fond of mechanical objects.

Then, there is a ritual cup from Persia from the 17th century (lot 1203), which starts at a price of only €750 but, according to the auctionteer, can achieve extraordinary results. There are fans of Hélène of Portugal; silverware of various kinds including glasses that belonged to the father of Duke Amedeo, Aimone of Aosta; and some plates with the arms of George I and II of Greece, because the mother of the duke was Irene of Greece. Among the books there is a collection of volumes with the arms of Savoy, and a collection of monographs on Prince Eugene.

The other half of the lots in the catalog come, as already mentioned, from various Italian houses. Here too are significant objects. From a prestigious Milanese house there are furnishing from Tuscany from the 16th century that have not been on the market for a long time. Among them is a folding table, which is rare in quality and workmanship, estimated €5,000 (lot 212).

From Palermo, there is a coin cabinet in ebony wood and tortoise from the 17th century, which is very well preserved (lot 214, estimate €20,000).

Still tied to the House of Savoy, on the other hand, is the collection of Luigi Cibrario (1802-1870), who was an influential politician of the period and filled also the post of minister of finance, education and foreign affairs. The Savoy gave him many honors, which culminated in the investiture of Knight of the Supreme Order of the Annunciation. The collar of the order is for sale with an estimate of €10,000.

Finally we arrive at the Art Déco with the furnishings of Villa Martinetto, located on the slopes of Turin’s hills. It is a house built in the late 1960s for a dealer of modern art. In the ’80s became the residence of an entrepreneur who was passionate about Art Déco. The furnishings of the villa are on sale with estimates between €50 and €1,500 per lot.

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ROME – For centuries antiques and the classics have been sources of inspiration for generations of artists. But what do they represent for the artists of today? An exhibition, curated by Vincenzo Trione and promoted by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Rome in collaboration with Electa, answers this question through the works of 17 contemporary artists exhibited in the monumental spaces of the Roman Forum and the Palatine from May 23 to Sept. 29.

It is the first time that the art of the present enters these majestic spaces, creating a dialogue between antiquity and modernity. The classical values of beauty, harmony, perfection, measurement and wisdom are reinterpreted in a modern key through artworks that in some cases have been created for the occasion.

Among the artists included in the exhibition, titled “Post-classics,” there are representatives of Arte Povera such as Jannis Kounellis, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Giulio Paolini; protagonists of the Transavanguardia like Mimmo Paladino; photographers Mimmo Jodice and Antonio Biasiucci; up to younger artists like ZimmerFrei, Alis/Filliol and Francesco Barocco. What connects their poetic, which are very different one from each other, is the recovery of the ancient not as something to copy faithfully, but rather to rewrite and propose again with quotes hanging in the balance between past, present and future.

The work by Gianluigi Colin (1956), for example, evokes the antiquity through the printed word on the contemporary media (Colin is art director of the newspaper Corriere della Sera) and recalls a lost world. The title of his work, The Ruined Ruins (2013), refers to the collapse that occurred in the recent past in Pompei and the bad condition of the archaeological site. The series, consisting of newspaper pages that were creased and photographed, is located in a basement corridor of 130 meters called the “Criptoportico neroniano.”

The well-known collection of photographs by Mimmo Jodice (1934) titled “Anamnesi” (1982-2008), instead, is inside the Palatine Museum. His portraits of ancient statues are the background to the statues of the collection and charge the atmosphere with solemnity and mystery.

The classic is also a major theme in the work of Vanessa Beecroft (1969), who is among the most famous Italian artists abroad. Also on this occasion the focus of her work is the female body, of which the artist underlines the fragility in contrast with the matter of the sculptures.

The other female artist involved in the project is Marisa Albanese, who presents at the Palatine Stadium—reopened after years of restoration—the series of the “Combattenti” (2000-2013): statues of seated women whose composure contrasts with the contemporary frenzy.

Again in the Palatine Stadium is the work by Jannis Kounellis (1936). The work was created specifically for this space using the ruins of the same stadium, which the artist ordered to form a square.

The other exponent of Arte Povera, Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933), presents once again—exactly in the Temple of Venus—the famous Venus of the Rags (1967-2013), which incorporates antiquity, and in particular the canonical beauty of Western art, and associates it with rags, a contrasting element and a symbol of the everyday.

In the same place is the work of the representative of the Transavanguardia Mimmo Paladino (1948), who also mixes a classic motif such as the shield with alienating elements such as shoes, guns and numbers in an uninterrupted flow from the past to the present.

Considerable space is devoted to the work of Claudio Parmiggiani (1943), who has always maintained a deep dialogue with antiquity. At the stadium the artist exposes a work from 1970, a plaster head painted yellow and blindfolded, accompanied by a typical element for the artist’s work, the butterfly. In the Temple of Venus, Parmiggiani shows a series of 90 recumbent heads that seem to have fallen from the sky. In both cases, the theme is that of transience and the fate of humanity, which is subject to the inexorable passage of time.

 

Among the younger artists, the duo Alis/Filliol, formed by Davide Gennarino (1979) and Andrea Respino (1976), presents a sculpture of the god Janus (Ianus, 2013), which itself represents the connection between past and future (the deity was represented with two faces, one looking to the past and one that looking to the future). But it is not only the choice of theme that goes back to antiquity. The technique chosen for the realization of the sculpture draws on ancient techniques elaborated in a modern sense, while at the same time the sculpture stands in stark contrast to the aesthetical concept of the past.

The work by the other collective involved, ZimmerFrei, formed by Massimo Carozzi, Anna de Manincor and Anna Rispoli, is a meditation on landscape titled Belvedere, 2012-2013. It consists of several objects, materials and images that reflect on the formation of the modern landscape, on the relationship between the ruins and the people walking on the archaeological site today.

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CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Every August, the gallery and auction house of Siena Farsettiarte organizes at its headquarters in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a resort in the Dolomites, a retrospective exhibition that traces the history of art of the 20th century. This year, from Aug. 8–31, the exhibition entitled “Divisionism and Futurism. Italian art delivered to modernity” evokes the transition from Divisionism to Futurism in Italian art, including about 30 works by famous authors such as Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carra, Fortunato Depero, Ottone Rosai, Gino Severini, Mario Sironi, Soffici and Lorenzo Viani.

The idea came from the founder of the auction house, Frediano Farsetti. “The exhibition has a didactic aim, more than a commercial one,” Frediano Farsetti’s daughter and collaborator Sonia Farsetti said. “Many of the works are not for sale, but are on loan. For those delivered for sale, prices start at €200,000.”

The exhibition focuses on the radical stylistic and aesthetical transformations that took place in the decade from 1910 to 1920. A major player in this passage was Giacomo Balla, who was born in 1871 and disappeared in 1958. Balla acted as an intermediary between the generation of Divisionists Giovanni Segantini and Gaetano Previati, born in the 1850s, and the generation of Futurists Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà and Gino Severini, born in the 1880s.

Divisionism had emerged in the last decade of the century, in particular with the participation of Giovanni Segantini, Gaetano Previati and Angelo Morbelli at the Brera Triennale in Milan in 1891. The movement was inspired by the technique of French pointillism of Seurat and Signac to reproduce the real and the effects of light. Unlike the French painters, Divisionism did not give so much importance to the technical rigor, but rather to the symbolism and the subject of the painting, often of a social nature. Balla also faced social issues (for example in the work La giornata dell’operaio from 1904 and in La pazza from 1905, today at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome), before radically changing style and moving to a painting of Futuristic type (such as Lampada ad arco, from 1909, today in the MoMA collection), and then signing Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism in 1910, also signed by Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Luigi Russolo and Gino Severini.

The exhibition at Farsettiarte includes four works by Boccioni: Campagna romana from circa 1902, Germogli primaverili (Paesaggio di Villa Borghese), from 1906, Ritratto di signora from 1907, and Nel prato, from 1908, two particularly important works. All these paintings bear witness to the arrival of the Futurist revolution, which was best expressed in Boccioni. There are three paintings by Boccioni on display: Pagliaio al sole, from 1908, Crepuscolo, from 1909, and Nudo disteso.

The spatial and formal research of the Futurism also appears in other works on display, such as Paesaggio Toscano by Severini (1912), Ritmi e linee by Carlo Carra (1912), La ballerina del San Martino, and L’Arlecchino by Sironi, both from 1915.

The paintings by Ardengo Soffici and Ottone Rosai, on the contrary, testify the current of the Florentine Futurism, which was sometimes in contrast with the Milanese movement, like the episode of the brawl in 1911 between Boccioni, Marinetti and Carrà on one side and Soffici, Prezzolini and Slataper, and Spaini on the other shows.

By Ottone Rosai, who was younger than the other Futurists, there are three paintings on display from the end of the second decade of the 20th century: Follie estive (1918-1919), Bottiglia e ciotola (1919) and Serenata (1919-20).

The exhibition at Farsettiarte is also interesting from the point of view of the market, given the scarcity of works of these two movements circulating. “Both for Divisionism and Futurism there is the problem of availability of works on the market, because there are few works for sale,” said Sonia Farsetti. “They are mostly in public or private collections. But when there are good works on the market, collectors respond very well and high prices are scored. Especially for names such as Boccioni and Severini.”

Among the two movements, Futurism has a stronger market because it was more defined, while the Divisionism has been wider and straddling over two centuries. Beside the problem of availability of works, there is also that the question of the limited presence of the movement on the international level, for which the works by the painters of Divisionism mark much lower prices outside Italy than those by, for example, French Pointillists. The circulation of both Divisionism and Futurism is limited by the export issue, which is made difficult by the Italian law, precluding the knowledge and circulation of these movements on the international stage.

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TURIN, Italy – Turin-based auction house and gallery Little Nemo, which specializes in comics, will hold an auction on July 18 devoted entirely to the 1960s. It’s a decade that changed the world, when some legends were born that 50 years later are still timely and in fashion. Examples represented in the auction are Andy Warhol, James Bond and Batman.

The sale includes approximately 250 lots with estimates ranging on average from €100 to €1,000 ($131 to $1,310). “For us it is very important to reach out to young collectors,” says Sergio Pignatone, owner of Little Nemo.

Lots are divided into four major sections: art, cinema, advertising and, of course, comics, the core business of Little Nemo. Within these sections there are other thematic divisions that deal, for example, with the themes of Westerns and space exploration.

In the section dedicated to art is an important book by Andy Warhol, the opening lot. It is a pop-up book from 1967 titled Index Book, which wasn’t a limited edition but is difficult to find in perfect condition. Warhol described it as “a children’s book for hipsters,” and it’s now more timely than ever. It contains a real conglomeration of genres and themes. Inside is a plate by Lou Reed, the famous Tomato Soup Can, photographs of the Factory studio, and a sheet of stamps with, presumably, LSD.

For film lovers, there are several posters that start at modest estimates and allow movie fans to purchase historical documents that are decorative and have potential to appreciate in value. Although the posters were mass-produced for display in movie theaters, they were soon discarded, making them scarce today. In Italy there was only one movie official, Nando Salce, who was so far-sighted that every time he received a new poster, he put a copy aside. Today, his archive is the most comprehensive in Italy and is located in his hometown, Treviso.

Among the most important in this section are the first posters of James Bond movies released in Italy. The first one was Agent 007 License to Kill (Dr. No in the English version) (lot 4), which is rarely found in perfect condition. And then there are some toy models of Bond’s Aston Martin with illustrated boxes—most important—depicting the various gimmicks and tricks of the British secret agent (lots 7 and 8).

And then there is the legend of Batman. In 1966 Batman moved from the comics world to the silver screen with the motion picture and then the small screen with the TV series, and so conquered the mainstream. Little Nemo’s auction offers the first Italian Batman movie poster in two sheets (lot 157), as well as some toys like a motorcycle and sidecar produced in Hong Kong (lot 160) and an important battery-operated Batmobile imported to Italy from Japan (lot 162).

In the field of comics, Diabolik, which started in 1962, cannot miss. At the sale there will be the first number in the rare variant of 1963 (lot 166). Circulation was limited and the first issue quickly sold out. It was reissued in 1963 but his second printing of the debut issue is nearly as hard to find as the first.

And then there is Linus, the first serious comics magazine that, in 1965, represented a sort of official sanction of comics. Included in the journal, in fact, there were names of great intellectual importance as those of Umberto Eco, Oreste Del Buono and Elio Vittorini. It is here that a protagonist of Italian comics like Valentina by Guido Crepax made his debut, and here were presented stories of important comics such as Corto Maltese by Hugo Pratt, Peanuts by Charles Schulz, and Pogo by Walt Kelly (lot 175).

Also by Hugo Pratt is also a rare silkscreen made as a result of a bet he made with publisher Sergio Bonelli. Pratt had wagered he would create a likeness of a royal guard of 10 meters, cut it up, and sell it in individual tables in an art gallery. Pratt actually took the most interesting parts of the guard, but managed to sell all of the silkscreen in an exhibition at Galleria L’Elefante in Venice. Bonelli bought one print himself. These serigraphs are rare because while they had been made in an edition of 100, most were lost during high water in Venice. Only 30 to 40 of them are left. This was Pratt’s first operation of artists multiple with the technique of decomposition that later become famous (lot 200).

There is also a collection of volumes by French editor Éric Losfeld (Éditions Le Terrain Vague), who published mythical characters such as Barbarella (lots 145-155). He was important for developing the relationship between pop art and comics. The most important volume at auction is Saga de Xam (lot 153).

Also very important is the section devoted to advertising, which in the 1960s was reinvented. Among the most interesting examples are an advertisement for Chiquita bananas (lot 50), a brand we still know, and advertisements for Vespa and Lambretta motor scooters (lots 241 and 56, repectively). There is also a section dedicated to Armando Testa, including the cover lot (lot 34), a poster of the Paulista coffee, which has not been seen before. And there are also all the characters from Carousel, from Calimero to Topo Gigio, to Toto and Tata, to an inflatable Susanna tutta panna, a prototype where the advertising was imprinted (lot 30).

An important section is dedicated to Westerns, which is in anticipation of a major exhibition organized by Little Nemo at the Museum of Comics “Wow” in Milan and of an auction that features lots from the exhibition. They are going to be held this fall and are devoted entirely to the Western in Italy, from Buffalo Bill to Tex Willer, star of the Italian comics series.

At the auction on July 18 there will be various posters of Sergio Leone’s films, which are in high demand by international collectors, mainly British, American and Japanese. They appreciate them as highly as Italians. In particular, lot 88 is a rare first edition of A Fistful of Dollars from 1964, a poster that is sought after throughout the world. It was the time when Leone still used the alternate name Bob Robertson, as he was still not sure of the success that would soon come.

Relating to the theme of space, there are some vintage toys and game, plus a cover by Dutch Karel Thole, who worked extensively in Italy drawing the covers for Urania (lot 108).

 

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ASTI, Italy – Nova Ars, an auction house from Asti, Piedmont, will be conducting two new design auctions organized in collaboration with E-Art Auctions. The first sale will be held July 11 and includes about 100 objects, while the second, on July 25, will have a larger catalog with a focus on glass.

“The common denominator of all our auctions,” Nova Ars design specialist Ilario Scagliola says, “is on the one hand that they are composed of items all made in Italy, as we mainly treat objects with an Italian provenance and only rarely objects with an international provenance. On the other hand is the certainty of the authenticity, as we are not only very careful in avoiding copies, but we do not even accept authorized remakes. We speak to the true collector who seeks the original, though nowadays there are very few originals on the market, so that sometimes we prefer to have objects of minor importance but in their original version.”

Not everyone is so careful. Because many interior designers want the object itself and do not consider history, the market for remakes is almost more florid than the one for originals, which is affected by a shortage of supply. Scagliola explains that often a remake has the same price—if not a higher price—as the original. Think of the Arco floor lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos (1962), which over the years has been reproduced many times with various changes to adapt to regulations and technical evolution. A true collector will look for the first model. A remake costs around €1,300, while the first version can be found around €800-1,000. Nova Ars has an original in the catalog (lot 47, with a starting bid of €700 and an estimate of €1,300-1,500).

A pair of armchairs by Warren Platner for Knoll from 1966 (lot 49, starting bid €1,500, estimate €3,000-5,000) represent another example of these two types of approach. “By now we also know the habits of collectors from different nationalities,” Scagliola explains. “A French collector who buys these armchairs with small defects in the fabric keeps it so as they are, because these are signs of aging that tells a story. An Italian collector, however, tends to redo the fabric because he sees it as secondhand.” These armchairs are icons of design, entirely made of stainless steel with hand-welded wands. The production is extremely expensive, which is why the bigger armchairs of this line are no longer in production and are very sought-after.

Another cult object offered at auction by Nova Ars is the Profiterole lamp by Sergio Asti for Martinelli Luce (1968), which is also included in the Bible of Italian design, Repertorio 1950-1980 by Giuliana Gramigna (lot 51, starting bid €1,500, est. €2,000-2,500).

Going further back in time we find another pair of very special lots: two wrought iron chandeliers by Alessandro Mazzucotelli. It’s a name that is usually linked to the Liberty movement and to floral shapes (late 1800-early 1900), which, however, here goes in the direction of the rational lines of Déco style (1930s). Mazzucotelli had, in fact, successfully participated in the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1925, which marked the start of the so-called Style 1925, a moment of transition from Liberty to Art Déco. This is evidenced in these two rare candleholders produced by the Italian designer that year (lot 2, starting bid €2,000, est. €5,000-6,000).

A classic example of Italian Déco, however, is the small table by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte (1930), which presents very harsh lines, the typical black ebonized wood, and the mirrored surface typical of Fontana Arte (lot 5 starting bid €3,000, est. €6,000-8,000).

Fontana Arte and all its designers certainly are among the most sought-after designers on the market today. Other names that are in demand are Arteluce with Gino Sarfatti and Arredoluce with Angelo Lelli and Giò Ponti.

“In general everything that is 1950s has been sought-after in recent years,” Scagliola says, “because it is in those years that the way of conceiving interior design has changed. It was also the time when designers freed themselves from any restraint, when people thought of the space, of modernity, of the conquest of the moon. Among experts this is not a discovery, but this awareness is now obvious to all. Moreover the 1950s are more difficult to copy because there were materials and ways of production that do not exist anymore. In particular, the most requested objects are those that one can find in publications, or that are fresh on the market and help to reconstruct the history of design.”

Prices for an object from the 1950s can get to a few million if we think of a desk by Carlo Mollino or other important things that are yet very difficult to find. On average prices range from €5,000 for a lamp of medium importance by Gino Sarfatti up to €50,000 for a fine piece of furniture by Giò Ponti.

Among the objects from the 1950s at auction at Nova Ars there will be a never-seen three-level tray by Piero Fornasetti (lot 24, starting bid €1,800, est. €3,500-5,000) and a unique coat hanger by Franco Campo and Carlo Graffi, which is very decorative with chopsticks pointing upward in the direction of space (lot 21, starting bid €400, est. €800-1,000).

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GENOA, Italy – On June 25th, Genoa-based auction house Cambi will hold an only-online auction dedicated to African art. Auction Central News interviewed the specialist, Paul Novaresio.

What is the status of African art in the Italian market?

The market of African art in Italy has started late, only in the last 20 years, while in France, Belgium, United States, Germany, and Holland it began at the beginning of the 20th century and therefore is much more developed, now. In Italy the collecting of African art is widespread especially in the north, Turin is a major center with collectors and scholars. Some exhibitions like the one in Florence in 1989 at the Forte di Belvedere titled “The large sculpture of Black Africa,” the one in Turin in 2003 (“Africa. Masterpieces from one continent” at the GAM), and the one in Asti in 2008 (“Africa in Forms” at the Baptistery of San Pietro) contributed to the development of collecting, but it is still a niche market. Auction items come from Italian collections, especially from Piedmont and Lombardy, which have refined over the years, but also from international collections. The sale is addressed to an international audience.

Where were produced these objects?

The pieces mainly come from Western and Central Africa, notably from the basin of River Niger and River Congo.

How many lots are there and what are the most important?

In total the auction offers 160 pieces, mostly wooden sculptures, but there are also very interesting traditional coins that have forms of everyday objects. They do not have a practical value, but rather a symbolic ibw. They were common in pre-colonial times; then they disappeared. For example, lot 94 is a coin-shaped collar Yoruba from Nigeria of 6.5 kg (est. € 2,500-3,000).

Other interesting lots are lot 112, a pestle-statue from the Ivory Coast used to mark the rhythm of the dances (est. € 6000-6500); and lot 104, a rare reliquary statue with a flap on the back for magical substances (est. € 5,000-6,000). Lot 108 is a maternity Fang of Gabon (est. € 4,500-5,000); lot 33 is important for the great aesthetic power (est. € 3,000-4,000), while lot 19 is a so-called “container of vital force” (est. € 2,800-3,200). It is a monkey skull inserted in a round basket that contains the relics. It is a rare and curious, hard to find even in the literature. Probably there are no more than two or three such examples.

Why are they important works?

For the quality and rarity, which is given by the fact that some objects are of most common use, while others have a longer ritual life and are less perishable.

What are the criteria for assessing the quality?

The quality is given by a combination of factors: first, there is adherence to traditional standards, because there are very specific criterion for each style. Then the patina and the signs of usage: there must be traces of use, but it isn’t always easy to understand what an object’s purpose was. And, last but not least, the work must communicate an aesthetic feeling, an emotion.

It certainly is good to get advice from an expert, although there is always a margin of error.

Are there fakes in circulation?

Of course, there are fakes that were produced for the market, but sometimes they were made by the same hands that produced the object for tribal use. And then we have to distinguish fakes from copies, which are authentic, historical reproductions of objects of prestige.

What are the prices of African art?

The prices are very underrated. They range from a few hundred euro to €6,000-6,500 for major pieces. Thus, if one has nose and artistic sensibility, one can buy unique works and the prices are definitely rising, as they have already increased in the last 20 years.

What era are these objects?

The problem of dating is very tricky because there are no tools to date the works with certainty. There is a radiocarbon test that is very expensive, and you only do it if you think that the work dates back to the 16th century, but ancient works are very few, perhaps fifty in the world.

These works at auction date back to the first half of the twentieth century, and this can be seen from the aesthetic quality. Maybe even a little bit back, for example from the late nineteenth century. If the objects are older, this must be supported by papers, for example by customs seals.

And today are works of this kind produced?

Less and less. They are disappearing like the traditional society is disappearing in front of progress. In some remote areas there are still artifacts of this kind, but the quality is declining. The traditional dishes, for example, are replaced with the dishes from China, which are more practical. Cult objects of traditional animist religions are diminishing on front of the advance of Christianity and Islam.

Objects on the market today do not come from Africa. There is very little left there, and the prices are like the ones one finds in Paris. The objects in circulation come from the West, from collections made 20 or 30 years ago that are now more refined, or are alienate pieces because if changes in taste.

What are the most sought-after items?

It depends on the trends. There was a period in which Dogon pieces from Mali were very sought-after. Today collectors look for Yoruba pieces from Nigeria and Luba pieces from North-East Congo. These include various groups with the same system of values but differences among each other.

How important is provenance?

In some cases it may let prices increase a lot. Let us think of the masks that belonged to the Cubists. If a mask belonged to Picasso, Man Ray, or Apollinaire is a very important document of an entire era, although the quality may not be excellent because at that time there were not so many masks available.

What was the role of the artistic avant-garde of the early 20th century in the rediscovery of African art?

The role of Picasso and, in general, Cubist, Dada, and Surrealists artists was crucial. The artists were the first ones who recognized the universal artistic qualities of this art. Personalities such as Picasso, Man Ray, Apollinaire and Paul Klee owned African art and were inspired by it. A very interesting exhibition at MoMA in New York in 1984 titled “Primitivism” has put together the works by the Avant-garde and the African masks, in a direct comparison that was never repeated.

Where are the most important collections today?

At the Musée du Quai Branly and the Musée Dapper in Paris, at the Metropolitan in New York, at the British Museum in London and at the Museum für Volkerkunde in Berlin. In Switzerland there is the Rietberg Museum in Zurich and the Musée Barbier-Mueller in Geneva. There are also off the beaten track museums such as the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervyren, Belgium.

Visit the Cambi d’Aste website and view their online auction catalog at http://www.cambiaste.com/uk/cambi-aste.asp.

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Expectations are growing in advance of the next sale of Oriental art at Genoa-based auction house Cambi, which takes place on May 22-23. After the success of the department’s recent sales, for the first time Cambi has brought the lots that will be offered at the sale on an exhibition tour to London. The move is prompted by the fact that 99 percent of the buyers who have contributed to the excellent results are from China, Taiwan, the United States and other countries.

“The London preview has been a great success,” Cambi’s Oriental art specialist Dario Mottola tells us on the phone from London. “We had many visitors and offers.” Mottola explains that actually success today does not depend so much on the location of the auction house, but on the quality of the offering and the preparation of the department. Think, for example, of Stuttgart-based auction house Nagel, which is one of the leading auction houses in the Chinese sector even if it is in Germany, thanks to the exceptional expertise of Michael Trautmann.

Mottola, for his part, counts on 35 years experience and is well connected at the international level. Since Mottola has taken the lead of Cambi’s department of Oriental art, the growth has been exponential. The last auction in December last year has realized a total result of €3.2 million, the highest total ever realized in Italy for Oriental art. Eighty percent of the buyers were Asians. On that occasion, a rare Qianlong white jade bell that started from an estimate of €80,000 was sold for €700,000 inclusive of the buyer’s premium ($901,923). It marked the new record for an object of Oriental art sold at auction in Italy. The previous record had been realized at Cambi, as well—almost €600,000 on June 4 for an important Begtse figure in bronze from the 18th century that had started from an estimate of €20,000-25,000. The total result of the June auction was €1.5 million ($1.9 million).

At the next auction on May 22-23, the lots on offer will be more than 500, coming from both Italian and international private collections. “Even if it seems to be a big number of lots, the choice was very selective. We have rejected thousands of lots,” said Mottola. One should consider that Chinese production was gigantic. At the end of the 17th century in China there were already 1,500 furnaces for the production of porcelain; mid-18th century there were 20,000; at the end of the 18th century there were 40,000; while in the 19th century one could not even count them. Mid-18th century in Germany there were perhaps four or five and they necessitated very high costs. One used to import porcelain from China because the production costs were much lower. Today, on the contrary, Chinese are buying back their history and their heritage. The current government is more democratic than the previous one and it allows a bigger circulation of goods and capital. This is why there was an increment at the last London auctions, even if the quality was not so high as a couple of years ago. “In general, collectors chase objects of high quality. If we want to indicate a favorite period, we would say the Qing period, from the end of the 17th century until the last emperor, that is to say the beginning of the 20th century.”

Cambi will have some exceptional lots on May 22-23. “One should not look at the estimates,” Mottola explains. “They are often low because Chinese buyers are attracted by them, then they start bidding fights that they do not want to lose and end up for buying at those incredible prices,” said Mottola.

Among the most important lots are: a marble Buddhist Luohan head from the Liao Dynasty (represented on the catalog cover, lot 426), which is rare for the kind of stone that was used; a screen in wood and porcelain from the end of the 18th century (lot 475); a rare white celadon jade plate with Oriental landscape decoration (lot 130); and a Celadon white jade ship from the 18th century, which is rare for its extraordinary dimensions (lot 119). Then there is a large collection of corals, which is exceptional for the number and the quality of the objects; and a pair of cloisonné vases, of which an identical specimen is preserved in the British Museum in London (and here is a couple, lot 288). There are also a big Buddha sculpture (lot 331); a rare bronze sculpture with gold marquetry representing Tsong-Khapa, a Tibetan religious philosopher who lived between the 14th and the 15th century, who was so important in the history of Buddhism that it is represented together with the emperor Qianlong in a painting of the Imperial Palace (lot 351); an imperial zitan wood and mother-of-pearl carved tray (lot 395); a silk embroidery of imperial manufacture richly decorated with floral motives (lot 433); and an emerald and lavender jadeite vase (lot 134) that is very desirable on the market at the moment.

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On April 29, at 4 p.m. Italian time, Rome-based auction house Minerva Auctions will hold its Spring Sale of Photographs. The offering includes a broad scope of genres, attempting to appeal to different tastes. “As in other sectors of art, collectors tend to concentrate on just one genre,” Minerva’s photography expert Silvia Berselli explains us in an interview, “therefore it is difficult to individualize precise trends of the market. Every genre has its own passionate clientele.”

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.

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After the forced break during World War II, architect and designer Carlo Mollino (1905-1973) resumed work in 1944 with the planning of two apartments in Via Perrone in Turin for the related families of Guglielmo and Franca Minola and Cesare and Ada Minola.

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.”

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On March 20, Florence-based auction house Pandolfini is holding its first auction of the year dedicated to rare wines (2:30 pm, Italian time). Auction Central News has interviewed Francesco Tanzi, director of the department, regarding the auction.

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.

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