Capitolium donates over 321,000 euros for a ceramic fountain
The modern and contemporary art auction totalled over 1.8 million, with 78 per cent of lots sold. There was significant participation from the United States, France and the United Kingdom
Key points
The full drama of the cross is captured as a powerful gesture and material in the glazed terracotta by Lucio Fontana, which took the top spot at 321,420 euros (from an estimate of 180–220 thousand) in the auction of modern and contemporary art organised by Capitolium Art in Brescia on 29 October. The work is a ‘Crucifixion’ from 1959, predominantly in shades of white with black, purple, light blue and gold; it has never before been offered at auction, having always been held in the same private collection, and is featured in the artist’s catalogue raisonné. This result is in line with the high-end auction prices achieved for the artist’s ceramics. Overall, the auction, entitled “Selected”, aimed to bring together some eighty selected and well-documented lots, all sharing distinguished provenance, which resulted in a total turnover of over 1.8 million, with 78 per cent of the lots sold. The auction house expressed its satisfaction, noting a significant turnout of international clients, particularly from the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
The results
A notable work from the early 20th century is a 1929 painting by the Hungarian artist Sándor Bortnyk, entitled ‘Composition of Automata. Parizs Langjai’ (‘The Flames of Paris’), valued at 30–50 thousand euros and sold for 70,680. The work had been donated in 1933 by Bortnyk to Fortunato Depero, on the occasion of their joint participation in an exhibition at the Milan Triennale, and a document held in the Depero archive bears witness to the memory of that gift.
Less impressive was a blue extrusion by Agostino Bonalumi from 1968, which sold for 55,560 euros, within the estimate range of 50–70 thousand, whilst ‘Chi è la vittima’, an acrylic on canvas by Valerio Adami from 1974, originally from the Maeght Gallery in Paris, changed hands for €61,860 (estimated at €60,000–80,000). A wooden ‘Farfalla’ by Mario Ceroli from 1967, from the collection of the renowned gallery owner Mario Pieroni and featured in the 1972 issue of Casa Vogue magazine, soared to 73,200 euros, also within the estimated range of 60–80 thousand.
The focus on the work of Carla Accardi was confirmed by the remarkable success of ‘Nerorosso’, a 1993 vinyl-on-canvas work featuring striking colour contrasts, which sold for 73,200 euros (from 30–40 thousand), an expression of her more mature artistic exploration, following her experiments with Sicofoil.
The colourful geometric forms of Piero Dorazio in ‘Cantata grezza’, an oil on canvas from 1981, proved very popular, rising from 25–30 thousand euros to a final hammer price of 48 thousand. There was an excellent result for the Mozambican-born artist Bertina Lopes, whose 1970 work ‘Preghiera’ smashed the estimates of 6–8 thousand, with a bidding war driving the price up to 44,220 euros – the artist’s personal record. Despite its prestigious provenance from the collection of Santo Versace, a highly colourful canvas by Hsiao Chin, ‘Joy of Life’ from 2001, estimated at 40–60,000 euros, failed to find a buyer – likely due to its enormous dimensions and, in particular, its height of 4.60 metres.
