Milan auction house Il Ponte Casa d’Aste will host a Modern and Contemporary Art auction next month with a selection of nearly 300 works of national and international artists from private collections in Italy and abroad.

Of considerable interest at the June 13 sale is a collection dedicated to the great international masters: the catalogue includes works by Miró, Chagall, Utrillo, Wols, Cornell and a rare watercolour by Kandinsky dated 1918.


MAJOR WORKS

Important works from the 20th century include two paintings entitled Natura Morta (Still Life) by Filippo De Pisis, a 1926 work by Renato Paresce and three extremely rare paintings by Giorgio De Chirico: Lepre e pernici (Hares and partridges), 1923, previously belonging to Florentine merchant and collector Giorgio Castelfranco; Busto di donna in verde (Bust of a Woman in Green) dated 1924; and Achille e Chirone (Achilles and Chiron) from 1938.

A magnificent work entitled Paesaggio urbano con ferroviere (Cityscape with railray man) by Mario Sironi is also up for auction; from the early 1920s, it is of extraordinary historical importance. The catalogue also includes a work by Marino Marini, a refined mixed technique entitled Danzatrice e cavallo (Dancer and Horse). The beautiful Still Life by Giorgio Morandi, an oil on canvas from a prestigious collection in Bologna, is striking for its strong compositional balance.

Osvaldo Licini is represented by his precious Personaggio (Character) dated 1944.

In addition, a self-portrait of Achille Funi from 1921, exhibited at the Terza Quadriennale (Third Quadrennial) of Rome in 1939, at Palazzo Reale in Milan in 1989, at Palazzo Strozzi and at Villa Olmo, is a wonderful example of Italian magical realism. 

Italian Abstractism is represented in the catalogue by works by Radice, Giordano, Pantaleoni, Reggiani, Prina, a rare work by Carla Badiali, 1938, a painting by Atanasio Soldati, 1935 and a work by Manlio Rho, 1940.

Among the futuristic works to be auctioned are works by Balla, Depero, D'Anna and a beautiful oil by Enrico Prampolini.


INFORMAL PERIOD

For this auction, the spotlight is also on a group of works from the post-WWII Informal period – featured in the exhibition are works by Tancredi, Turcato, Perilli, Imai, Hartung, Dubuffet, Tàpies, Corneille, Hsiao Chin, Poliakoff and Santomaso, with his large canvas A cielo aperto (Under Open Sky), exhibited at Palazzo Reale in 1986. 

Also featured are "Winter Morning" by William Congdon, a work from 1950 already exhibited at the MoMA of New York, and a museum-worthy oil painting by Emilio Scanavino from 1966, of extraordinary quality.

A masterpiece of Informal art is the painting by Jean-Paul Riopelle, 1954, coming from an important collection in London, previously belonging to the prestigious collection of Riccardo and Magda Jucker. Finally, mention should be made of Musus, an Emil Schumacher oil on canvas dated 1964.

Among the masters of the post-WWII Italian Avant-Garde we find Isgrò, Agnetti, Mauri, Baruchello, Parmiggiani and Boetti, present with three important works: Segno Disegno (Sign Design), a large diptych dated 1983, the tapestry entitled Cinque x cinque venticinque (Five times Five Twenty-Five) and Tutto – I Vedenti (Everything – The Beholders).

There is also an impressive work by Irma Blank, 1995, of exceptional quality and size.


LATIN AMERICA

To be watched closely is the collection of Latin American Art, with various works by Matta, Lam and Botero.

To be noted, in addition, are these artists of the Group Zero: Alviani, Aubertin Bonalumi, Castellani and Manzoni with an Achrome from 1960 and a Linea lunga mt 10,99 (Line 10.99 m in length).

Remarkable, too, is the large 1967 canvas by the Japanese artist Shusaku Arakawa. Two Body Art photographs by the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer should also be mentioned. 

In the section dedicated to Nouveau Réalisme, we find Christo, with his historic Store Front Project from 1962, Jacques Villeglé's décollage, a 1960 work by Mimmo Rotella and a museum-sized accumulation by Arman.


SCULPTURES

There is also a section dedicated to sculpture, with examples from many expressive and material forms: iron, ceramics, bronze, glass, marble, cement and wood. 

To be auctioned are works by Arnaldo and Giò Pomodoro, Somaini, Fontana, Franchina, Staccioli, Picasso, Arman, Oppenheim, Cappello, Mastroianni, Melotti, Mitoraj, Munari and Mino Rosso, with a historical bronze dated 1934; and also Pietro Consagra with Colloquio duro (Difficult Dialogue),  1958 and Giuseppe Uncini with an impressive work entitled Ferro cemento (Iron Cement).

Lucio Fontana is represented by two ceramic sculptures: Figura alata (Winged figure) and I cavalli del sole (The horses of the sun); also present is Concetto Spaziale, Natura (Spatial Concept, Nature), a pair of bronze sculptures dated 1967.

Il Ponte Casa d'Aste specialises in high-end sales of art, jewellery and antiques. Founded in 1974 by Stefano Redaelli, the hosue has its historic offices and salesroom in Via Pontaccio 12 in the Palazzo Crivelli at the heart of Brera.