Christie's London to Auction Pino Pascali and Lucio Fontana in Thinking Italian Art and Design Sale

Christie's London will hold the 'Thinking Italian Art and Design' auction on October 22-23 as part of the '20th Century: London to Paris' series, coinciding with Frieze London. The sale features 33 lots highlighting the dialogue between Italian visual arts and design, with top estimates of £2.5-3.5 million for Pino Pascali's 'Contraerea' (1965) and Lucio Fontana's 'Concetto Spaziale, Forma' (1957). Pascali's sculpture, from his 'Armi' series, debuted at Galleria Enzo Sperone in Turin in 1966 and has been exhibited at Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna di Roma, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Kröller-Müller Museum, and Museo Reina Sofía. Fontana's work, in gilded iron, is one of eight stem sculptures; three are in museum collections including Museum Ludwig, Museum Jorn, and Fondazione Lucio Fontana, with some shown at the 1958 Venice Biennale. Other artists include Alighiero Boetti, Gino De Dominicis, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Fausto Melotti, Mimmo Rotella, Salvatore Scarpitta, and Mario Schifano, alongside designers Carlo Mollino, Gio Ponti, and Carlo Scarpa. Mariolina Bassetti, Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christie's, emphasized the platform's role in showcasing 20th-century Italian creativity. The auction marks the 20th anniversary of Christie's Italian sales in London.