Christie's Thinking Italian Auction Moves to Paris for First Time

Christie's is relocating its Thinking Italian auction, dedicated to contemporary Italian art, from London to Paris for the first time. The sale, titled Avant-Garde(s) including Thinking Italian, will take place on October 20, 2022, during the inaugural Paris+ par Art Basel fair (October 20-23). The move reflects Paris's growing importance as a European art market hub post-Brexit, with flexible export regulations and recently raised value thresholds for artwork leaving France. The auction will feature a standout lot: Alighiero Boetti's Mappa (1979) on a pink background, created due to a weavers' error that Boetti later embraced. Other Italian masters include Melotti, Castellani, Schifano, Calzolari, and Lucio Fontana, with his Concetto Spaziale (1960). International artists include Joan Mitchell (Sans Titre, 1992, estimated €4 million), Zao Wou-Ki (6.2.26, 1996), and French artists Pierre Soulages, Fernand Léger, and Jean Dubuffet. On October 21, the Art Moderne segment will offer 134 lots led by Marc Chagall's Célébration du nu vert (1982) from private collections. Mariolina Bassetti, president of Christie's Italy and Continental Europe Post-War and Contemporary Art, stated that as Italian artists become more international, the Thinking Italian format evolves to integrate into a global avant-garde segment. This shift ends the standalone protection of Italian art within the auction, positioning Italian artists as active components in a worldwide catalog.