Finarte Opens in Palermo with Guttuso Masterpiece at Villa Igiea

Finarte, the historic Italian auction house, has inaugurated a new collecting hub at the iconic Villa Igiea hotel in Palermo, partnering with Rocco Forte Hotels. The debut features Renato Guttuso's painting "La 'Zattera' dopo Géricault" (1962), estimated at €100,000–140,000, which will be the top lot in Finarte's Modern and Contemporary Art auction on June 9 in Milan. The work, from a private Modena collection, has never been auctioned before. Guttuso's large canvas (200 x 210 cm) reinterprets Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa" as a symbol of struggle and revolt, with expressionist reds and browns. It was first exhibited in 1963 at Rome's Galleria Il Fante di Spade in the show "Seven Painters Today and Tradition," a key moment in the Italian figurative vs. informal art debate. Finarte's Palermo activities will be managed by Maria Letizia Cassata, with a calendar of Valuation Days and Art Talks. CEO Alessandro Guerrini cited Palermo's cultural vitality, referencing Manifesta 12, the transformation of Palazzo Butera by the Valsecchi family, and Hauser & Wirth's new Italian outpost at Palazzo Forcella De Seta.