Art Market#20: Review of 20th-century Italian Art from the New York and London Spring Sales

In 2024, we observed that the market for 20th-century Italian art, amid a broader international contraction, provided numerous opportunities to acquire historically significant works by established artists at auction, starting from attractive estimates.

A notable example was the oil on canvas from 1948 by Giulio Turcato, Comizio, presented by the Italian auction house Farsetti in November with a starting estimate of EUR 30,000-40,000.

Featured in two major exhibitions of Turcato’s works in Rome, respectively at Palazzo delle Esposizioni (1974) and Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (1986), the painting achieved EUR 93,370, including fees, marking a remarkable outcome in the artist’s market.

Created one year after the establishment of the Forma 1 Group, Comizio showcased a new language of abstraction, which Turcato employed to express the intense political and social tensions of postwar Italy - a departure from Guttuso's Social Realism.

At the end of a new international auction session in New York and London, it appears that this trend for 20th-century Italian art - despite some exceptions like Salvo - may continue into 2025, confirming that current market conditions are more favorable for buyers than for sellers.

On February 26, Sotheby's New York offered a selection of Italian artworks from the same American estate within their Contemporary Curated auction.

The featured artists included well-established names: Sergio Lombardo, Franco Angeli, Mario Schifano, Tano Festa, Carla Accardi, Piero Dorazio, Antonio Sanfilippo, Giuseppe Capogrossi and Gastone Novelli.

Some of the artworks had appeared at auction in 2019 and were presumably acquired at that time by the same Sotheby’s consignor.

In a market that is eager for unpublished works, this factor may have influenced the results.

So, except for the Sergio Lombardo's piece from his renowned Gesti Tipici series, a John Fitzgerald Kennedy that doubled its initial estimate of $200,000, other lots – Accardi, Angeli, Sanfilippo, Festa, Capogrossi and Novelli - sold within their respective valuation ranges.

A green Caseina from 1964 by Carla Accardi, Bave d’Erba, had even more recent auction exposure last November in Milan, where it went unsold with a higher estimate of EUR 100,000-150,000. Presented again on February 26 with a lower estimate of $70,000-100,000 (EUR 65,000-95,000), it hammered at $88,900, including fees.

The Capogrossi, Superficie 99 from 1952, was a particularly good piece, and the fortunate buyer acquired a painting of historical provenance (Galleria del Naviglio, Milan) at an interesting price ($127,000 including fees).

By 1952, Capogrossi’s abstract identity was already fully developed, featuring the iconic half-circle shape (the fork), which in Superficie 99 is vertically and tightly arranged across the canvas. Two years later, the artist would be showcased at the Venice Biennale with a personal room and a presentation by the art critic Michel Tapié.

Among the lots that failed to attract interest in New York on February 26, a 1961 monochrome painting by Mario Schifano was withdrawn before the auction, probably because the owner's reserve price was not met.

Even a 1959 Reticolo by Piero Dorazio received no bids. Dorazio's works from the 1950s - though often coming from important European or American collections - have been experiencing difficulties at auction lately, when compared to the happier performance of works from later decades. But even this factor may became an opportunity for lovers of 1950s Dorazio.

On March 5, Sotheby’s London presented a treasured selection of Italian artworks from the prestigious collection of Christian Levett: Manzoni, Castellani, Burri, Scheggi, Bonalumi, Simeti, Fontana, Rotella, Consagra, Marini, Manzù e Biasi.

“This is a significant opportunity for 20th-century collectors to bid on masterpieces at very attractive starting estimates. Time to let other collectors enjoy these amazing artworks”, the owner stated on his Instagram profile.

After 30 years of collecting classical art, antiquities and International Post-War, the British entrepreneur has recently shifted his focus to female artists, mainly Abstract Expressionists.

Last summer, he rescheduled his private Museum in the South of France, a former mill in Mougins, a small village where also Picasso used to live, to open the Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins (FAMM). This is Europe’s first major museum dedicated solely to women artists.

The response obtained from the fifteen lots consigned by Levett tells us that if we are not likely witnessing a profound change in collecting taste - now increasingly aimed at those artists who have previously been overlooked or at different divisions such as luxury - it marks a definitive departure from the impressive auction results achieved by artists like Manzoni, Castellani, Bonalumi, and Scheggi on the London and New York stage just a decade ago.

In a situation similar to the performance of the Italian lots in the New York Spring Sale, on March 5 in London only a decollage by Mimmo Rotella sold for £40,640, which was double its initial estimate, including fees.

Of the other pieces from the Levett Collection that went sold to new buyers, the majority did not exceed their higher estimates or even sold for below the minimum estimate, as was the case with two well-documented works by Alberto Burri, a Combustione from 1966 and a Cellotex from 1979.

A red Estroflessione by Enrico Castellani, which was featured in the Guggenheim New York's 2014 exhibition dedicated to the Zero Group, and a Visione dinamica by Alberto Biasi remained unsold.

However, the situation was different for the significant Burri, Sacco e Nero 3 from 1955, consigned by another private European Collector to Sotheby's as well, included in the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction on March 4. It sold for over 4 million pounds.

It is evident that we are in this case observing the top end of the market, and it is encouraging to see that a piece by an artist as significant to 20th-century art as Burri met the expectations of a small but highly discerning clientele of high-net-worth individuals.

No other Italian artist after the war explored painting's space with such radicality as Burri, leaving a broad legacy of formal solutions that continued to influence generations of artists.

Sacco e Nero 3 was guaranteed within the estimated range of GBP 2,500,000 to 3,500,000. However, due to the level of interest in the work, it was unnecessary to involve a third party to sell it, a good outcome for Sotheby's and the Burri seller.

In concluding this analysis, in the current art market it is important to look at buyers and sellers separately.

Different factors have led to a softening of prices, creating new and unexpected opportunities for buyers.

On the selling side, an increasing number of collectors and estates may want to explore alternatives to auction sales for managing their art disposals. This trend could result in a growing preference for private sales, which allow sellers to connect with potential buyers while maintaining discretion and reducing risks associated with a fast-changing market.