Milan - This May, Christie’s 20th/21st Century: Milan Online Sale features a curated selection of works by today’s most sought-after post-war and contemporary artists, together with a refined array of masterpieces from the last century, covering nearly 100 years of artistic creations. The sale will offer a total of approximately 120 works by over 70 artists, mainly consigned from private collectors and including some notable collections. The sale will be open for bidding online from 21-30 May 2024 and a selection of works will be exhibited at the following locations:

• Rome | 8-9 May | Hotel de Russie   Milan | 23-26 May | Palazzo Clerici

The sale is highlighted by a white Concetto spaziale painting by Lucio Fontana (estimate €400,000-600,000) dating from 1967-68, here the artist created a spectacular rhythmic system of perforations which seemed ever-more lyrical in structure. Christie’s Milan set the world auction record for Ettore Spalletti in June 2022 when Azzurro sold for €201,600, 34% above estimate and is looking forward offering this season a very similar work Untitled dating from 1989 and coming from a European Private Collection, with an estimate of €120,000-180,000.

Artists showing at international institutions as well as at Christie’s

Christie’s Milan will offer Espagne et Portugal (Porter with Bicycle), a masterpiece by the South African artist William Kentridge from 2003, coming from an eclectic Italian Private Collection for the first time to auction with an estimate of €80,000-120,000. The artist has debuted his latest work, Self-Portrait As a Coffee Pot, at the Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation during the Venice Biennale opening week. The new conceptual series of nine 30-minute videos was produced in the artist’s Johannesburg studio between 2020 and 2023  and explores how we make and experience art in the digital age. 

Christie’s Milan will also offer an impressive scale work by Mimmo Paladino of almost 200x200cm dating from 1984 and entitled Film, and was included in several monographies written by Achille Bonito Oliva (estimate €40,000-60,000). To commemorate the artist’s 75th anniversary Bologna will host an exhibition with over 20 important works by the artist entitled Mimmo Paladino in the Palace of the Pope running until June 2024 at the Fondazione Palazzo Boncompagni.

365 days of Salvo’s auction market

Christie’s Milan is delighted to offer two exemplary works by Salvo dating from 1989 and 2000. Untitled, from 1989 was acquired in the same year by a private collector, remaining in the same collection and will be offered fresh to the market with a pre-sale estimate of €100,000-150,000 (ill. left). Inverno, painted in 2000, depicts one of his most sought-after series, the city illuminated by streetlamps, and it’s offered with a pre-sale estimate of €70,000-100,000.

From the early 1980s, Salvo produced his signature abstracted landscape and cityscape paintings. These works are particularly notable for the artist's masterful rendering of natural light, painting vibrant natural and urban scenes. In Salvo's oeuvre, one finds an uber-colourful dreamworld in oil paint, with all the architectural and natural motifs of the Italian countryside.

Christie’s holds the record price for Salvo, established late November 2023 in Hong Kong, when Il Mattino, painted in 1994, sold for HK$8,694,000 (US$1,114,987) against an estimate of HK$1.8-2.8 million, 210% above estimate. Furthermore, Christie’s holds 5 out of the Top 10 prices established for the artist worldwide and provides a sell through rate of 96% with 93% of all lots selling above the high estimate. Year-on-Year (as of End of April 2023) Christie’s has offered 37 works by the artist. The core buyers of Salvo's works are between their mid-30s and mid-50s, and traditionally have been European and American. However, the artist now also has a strong following among Asian collectors.

Private Collections at Christie’s

The most important collection represented in the 20th/21st Century: Milan Online Sale is represented by an eclectic group of works, focusing on the 1980s and 1990s, which has been put together by an Italian entrepreneur who has been collecting international art over several decades. The collection is led by the above-mentioned William Kentridge’s tapestry and Mimmo Paladino’s painting, and includes further works by Luigi Ontani, Mario Schifano, Tony Oursler, Tom Sachs, Cindy Sherman among others, showing a wide taste and research highlighted by artists with an international demand.

The sale will offer other works coming from private collections, among these the Roberto Bisacco Collection, who was an actor and close friend of Alighiero Boetti (several works from the collection 

have been sold last year in Milan and Paris); furthermore, works from an Important Roman Collection with a focus on photography, and works by Marino Marini and Massimo Campigli coming from the Campigli family collection.

The 20th/21st Century: Milan Online sale has consistently followed the credo that important Collection Sales are moving the market and lately offered around 100 works from the Agrati collection and in 2023 approximately 130 works from the Centuries of Beauty: A Refined Private Collection, proving the strength of presenting single collections on the market.

Boetti at Christie’s

During the second half of February 2024 Christie’s London presented a retrospective entitled Mettere al Mondo il Mondo, of Alighiero Boetti’s work. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Boetti’s death, the exhibition comprised more than 25 works spanning three decades of his career.      

Continuing the above success, Milan is delighted to present another selection of works by the artist in our upcoming sale, which is lead by a rare pure white embroidery (Sciogliersi come neve al sole, estimate €100,000-150,000), and a seminal biro work from 1974 titled Gemelli, which refers to the concept of the double which is typical of Alighiero Boetti’s work (estimate €90,000-130,000 and illustrated).