MILAN.- Christie’s 20th / 21st Century: Milan Online Sale, taking place from 23 November to 5 December, will present around 100 works by Italian and international artists including Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Giorgio de Chirico, Jannis Kounellis, Fausto Pirandello, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Salvo and Mario Schifano.

Prices range from €100 to €350,000, offering collectors at every stage an opportunity to acquire pieces by pioneering artists across the 20th and 21st century, with 70% of works coming to auction for the first time.

As the leading house for prestigious private collections, Christie’s will showcase two exceptional collections from actor Roberto Bisacco and Roman art critic Alberto Boatto. Additional works from Centuries of Beauty - A Refined Private Collection include sculptures by Marino Marini and Giacomo Manzù.

Highlights from 20th / 21st Century: Milan Online Sale will be on view in Naples on 16 November, with the full selection of works on display in Milan at Palazzo Clerici from 23 to 26 November.

Among the works offered at auction for the first time, Christie’s will present a vibrant red biro by Alighiero Boetti titled Vedere I laterali (1981, estimate €250,000-350,000), which was gifted by the artist to the family who hosted and helped him during his recovery from a car accident in Cinque Terre in 1982. Alongside this, a monumental work by Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, which includes all of the most important elements the artist loved to work with, such as lead, burlap and fire (estimate €200,000-300,000, illustrated far below) will lead the Arte Povera section of the sale.

Alighiero Boetti’s Languidi sguardi assassini (1990, estimate: €100,000-150,000) is the first red monochrome featuring this phrase to appear on the public market. Fausto Pirandello’s Giochi in terrazza (estimate: €120,000-180,000), a life-sized panel painting depicting the artist’s sister Lietta with her two daughters, is the top lot of the Modern Masters section. This rare and lyrical painting from 1937 was exhibited during III Quadriennale d’Arte in Rome in 1939, and comes to auction for the first time.

Alberto Boatto was a great scholar of the avant-garde art movements of the early 20th century. The works from this collection include gifts from Concetto Pozzati and Giosetta Fioroni, evidence that these friendships allowed Boatto preferential access to series’ that were otherwise not available for sale. From this group, an iconic portrait by Giosetta Fioroni, Senza titolo (1966, estimate: €30,000-40,000), which was exhibited in New York at The Drawing Center in 2013.

Roberto Bisacco was a close friend of Alighiero Boetti who put together a collection of the artist’s works that stand as testament to an artistic and cultural exchange between the two figures. This collection is highlighted by Faccine colorate (1979, estimate: €26,000-36,000).

Following the record set for the artist at Christie’s London in October, the Milan sale features two paintings from Salvo’s most iconic series depicting snowfalls and landscapes: Senza titolo (1996, estimate: €55,000-75,000) and La valle (2006, estimate: €35,000-50,000), both characterised by a psychedelic and dreamy palette.