Auction 92 – MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART

Our next appointment is Auction 92 – Modern and Contemporary Art, a catalogue of 105 lots from Italian private collections. Carefully selected, the sale brings together works that trace the history of twentieth-century art, ranging from international printmaking to modern Italian painting and contemporary art. The catalogue is concise yet thoughtfully constructed, designed to offer collectors a focused selection of modern and contemporary artworks of strong historical and collecting interest.

Among the highlights are two screenprints from the celebrated Marilyn Monroe (Marilyn) series by Andy Warhol, taken from the portfolio dedicated to the actress, one of the most recognizable images in the artist’s work and among the most iconic motifs of Pop Art. The two works present different chromatic solutions: alongside the version in brighter tones appears a variant with a black background, one of the less common color combinations within the series, characterized by a particularly striking visual impact.

The international dimension of the auction is further represented by a group of prints by the great masters of the twentieth century, including three works by Joan Miró, accompanied by works by Pablo Picasso and Fernand Léger, protagonists of the historical avant-gardes of the twentieth century and central figures in the history of modern European art.

A significant section of the catalogue is devoted to Italian masters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, key figures in the transition from figurative tradition to the first expressions of modernity. Notable among them are two drawings by Giovanni Boldini: one published in the general catalogue of drawings edited by Bianca Doria and the other accompanied by certification by Vito Doria, both testifying to the extraordinary refinement and sensitivity with which the Ferrarese master translated the dynamic elegance of his painterly production onto paper. Representing early twentieth-century Italian painting are works such as Ottone Rosai’s Il cancello rosso. Paesaggio di sera and Virgilio Guidi’s Ritratto della moglie (1928), paintings that reflect two distinct yet fundamental moments in the history of twentieth-century Italian art. This group is complemented by works by Mario Sironi and Lorenzo Viani, central figures in early twentieth-century Italian painting and protagonists of the renewal of Italian figurative culture.

Italian figurative art of the post-war period is represented in particular by Riccardo Tommasi Ferroni, featured with the monumental painting Ratto di Proserpina, an emblematic example of his learned and visionary painting that reinterprets the classical tradition through a contemporary sensibility.

Alongside figurative art, the catalogue also includes some of the principal experiences of Italian abstract and Informal painting, with artists such as Giulio Turcato, Roberto Crippa, Sergio Romiti, and Concetto Pozzati, joined by figures such as Mimmo Rotella and Franco Guerzoni, representative of the diverse experimental directions that have shaped Italian art in the second half of the twentieth century.

Taken as a whole, Gregory’s 92nd auction dedicated to Modern and Contemporary Art presents a balanced journey through international printmaking, modern art, and twentieth-century Italian painting, bringing together in 105 carefully selected lots works of quality and solid interest for collectors, investors, and enthusiasts of the art market.