Italian artists dominate Dorotheum's contemporary art auction in Vienna

Dorotheum's evening sale of Contemporary Art I on June 1, 2022, in Vienna featured a strong Italian contingent, with over twenty Italian artists driving the auction's success. Key results included Enrico Castellani's 'Superficie Bianca' (1985) selling for over €215,000, Carla Accardi's 'Labirinto negativo' (1955) reaching €153,000 (more than double its low estimate), and Emilio Vedova's 'Immagine del tempo '57–3, T' (1957) exceeding €200,000. Works from the Gruppo Forma 1 also performed well: Piero Dorazio's 'From now on' (1965) sold for €128,000 above its high estimate, Achille Perilli's two works both exceeded high estimates, and Giuseppe Capogrossi's 'Domenica d'estate-Superficie 10' (1953) achieved €178,000. Mario Schifano's blue monochrome 'Milano' (mid-1970s) surpassed €74,000, though this was modest compared to a similar work sold by Sotheby's Milan in April 2022 for €1 million. International top lots included Andy Warhol's serigraph 'Man Ray' (1974) selling for €753,000, Hans Hartung's 'T1982-R19' (1982) soaring from a €70,000 estimate to €365,500 after a battle among twenty phone bidders, Georges Mathieu's works performing strongly, and Antoni Tàpies' 'Snake in a square' (1991) selling for €315,000. African art also featured prominently: Ivorian artist Aboudia's 'Deux amis noutchi' (2018) sold for over €240,000, far exceeding its estimate, reflecting growing market interest in contemporary African painting.