MILAN – August in Italy is synonymous with a sea and sun vacation. Yet there is still space for art and culture. Here are five must-see exhibitions on your trip through Italy, from the north to the south.

Takashi Murakami in Milan

From July 24 to Sept. 7, the Hall of the Caryatids of Palazzo Reale in Milan is home to an exhibition of recent works by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, known for its mix of pop and traditional Japanese culture, manga and Buddhist iconography. The exhibition, titled “The cycle of Arhat” and curated by Francesco Bonami, presents works created over the past two years. Despite its flat aesthetics, the message and meaning of the works is deeper. It reflects on topics of recent history such as the earthquake and nuclear emergency in Fukushima. “The works speak of a world attacked by the forces of nature and the self-destructive forces of humans,” Bonami explained in the press conference, “but the world is saved by ‘Arhat’: ancient characters, monks who lead us through the problems of life, not to solve them, but rather to learn how to live with them. Exhibited in the Hall of the Caryatids, which was damaged both by the WWII bombing and by climatic conditions, the works take on a deeper meaning.”

Architecture Biennial in Venice

From June 7 to Nov. 23, the 14th edition of the Architecture Biennial takes place in Venice under the curatorship of star architect Rem Koolhaas. The theme chosen by Koolhaas for this edition is “Fundamentals.” It includes not only the exhibition at the Central Pavilion, titled “Elements of Architecture,” but also the national pavilions, which are usually free to choose the theme of their presentation. In fact, this year the pavilions welcomed Koolhaas’ invitation to reflect on the theme “Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014.” The curator has not limited himself to set up the presence of other architects called to present themselves and their work. This year’s exhibition is the result of research conducted under the guidance of the curator with the aim to propose in a new perspective the reference elements for a new relationship between us, our civilization and architecture.

Arte in Centro

From 4 July to 28 Sept., the event “Art in the Center” gathers in a single network nine exhibitions, 20 events, 100 international artists, 13 curators and more than 10 venues. It is an initiative of six foundations from the regions of Abruzzo and Marche, which arose from the need to create an integrated cultural system in an area rich in specificities; a union which represents an incentive to innovation and at the same time a way to develop the individual identities. The events take place in seven municipalities. Ascoli Piceno, for example, hosts the exhibition “Amalassunta Collaudi. Dieci artisti e Licini,” which put into dialogue the works by the painter native of the Marche Osvaldo Licini with those of national and international contemporary artists. In the Cathedral of Atri in Abruzzo there is the exhibition “Stills of Peace and Everyday Life,” which puts into dialogue photography, video and installations by contemporary Italian and Pakistani artists.

Maria Lai in Sardinia

Sardinia celebrates Maria Lai, the Sardinian artist who died last year at the age of 94, with a retrospective titled “Ricucire il mondo.” The exhibitions take place in three museums in Cagliari, Nuoro and Ulassai, the artist’s birthplace. Palazzo di Città a Cagliari hosts, from July 10 to Nov. 2, the first part of the project, dedicated to the artist’s production from the 1940s to the 1980s, and includes a series of documentaries. The video of the collective performance “Legarsi alla montagna,” realized in Ulassai in 1981, is a key work in the development of Lai’s languages and unifying element of the three exhibitions. The MAN Museum in Nuoro hosts, from July 11 to Oct. 12, the second part of the project, dedicated to her production from the 1980s to 2000, a moment of particular creative intensity for the artist carried out in line with the contemporary developments of the international research in the field of performance, relational and public art. Finally there will be two itineraries in Ulassai, from July 12 to Nov. 2: “Una stazione per l’arte,” the old railway station converted into a museum by Lai and staged according to its original design and environmental interventions implemented in the village since the early 1980s.

Ettore Spalletti in Rome and Naples

Another great Italian artist is celebrated in three museums. It is Ettore Spalletti, born in Abruzzo in 1940, whose works are on show at MADRE in Naples (from April 13 to Aug. 18), at MAXXI in Rome (from March 13 to Sept. 14), and at GAM in Turin (already concluded). The three exhibitions collect 70 works under the poetic title “Un giorno così bianco, così bianco.” The MADRE exhibition traces the artist’s research from the beginning in the 1960s until today, combining painting, sculpture, environmental installations, books and projects. All central topics in the work of Spalletti are included: the cancellation of the time as a linear progression and its exploration as an eternal present; the relationship between natural data and abstract language; the relationship between painting and sculpture as an articulation of colors and volumes in space; the memory of the classic combined with modernity; the centrality of the experience of landscape; and the exploration of monochrome as a metaphor of perceptual sensitivity. At MAXXI the artist is confronted with the strongly characterized architectural space and appropriates the space composing a path built by his most recent works.

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ASTI, Italy – Form or function? Decorative or utilitarian? Artwork or design object? Questions that designers and architects have always engaged and that run as a leitmotif through the lots offered on July 31 by Ars Nova, the Asti-based auction house specializing in design. The auction will be an original mix of approximately 140 pieces of design and works of contemporary art from the 1930s until today, with estimates ranging from €500 to €18,000.

The sale includes, for example, sculptures created by designers such as Separazione nostalgica by Angelo Mangiarotti (lot 11, estimate €3,000-3,500). The Plexiglas sculpture by Milanese architect and designer has created in other materials, as well, such as marble and bronze, and is composed by two items without function that one can bring closer or draw apart. There’s also the golden ceramic totem Superego by Alessandro Mendini (lot 42, estimate €3,000-4,000), a sculpture that was realized in an edition of eight on the model of 13 unique sculptures designed for the “Arts & Crafts and Design: Alessandro second time Mendini and his craftsmen” project in 2013. And, also, the perforated sculpture created by Giò Ponti for Sabbatini in 1978 (lot 8D, estimate €2,000-2,500), or the recent series of ceramic sculptures by Massimo Giacon (lots 126-143, estimate €2,000-4,000): an original series of figures in edition of 50, which combine design, comics and pop surrealism and were recently shown at the Milan Triennale.

But there will also be various pieces of design in which the decorative element prevails over function. For example, the “Hérisson” armchair by Marzio Cecchi (lot 38, estimate €13,000-15,000). Cecchi is a little-known designer, mainly known among collectors because he worked little for the industry and much more for galleries, and because he was for a long time active in the United States. Shaped like a hedgehog, the armchair was made in very few editions in 1969 and anticipated the provocations of the 1970s and 1980s, the abandonment of the dictates of function in favor of form and decoration – changes that reflected new trends in taste but also in society.

Then, there will be examples of the pop design from the 1970s, such as “The Témoin,” an armchair in the shape of an eye by Dino Gavina and Man Ray (lot 18, estimate €2,000-2,500), or “Magritta,” an armchair inspired by a Magritte painting by Dino Gavina and Sebastián Matta (lot 19, estimate €2,000-2,500).

Among the most important pieces in the auction there will be a pyramidal chest of drawers by Shiro Kuramata (lot 30, estimate €15,000-18,000). It was produced by Cappellini in 1968 in few editions and it was difficult to realize because it is entirely in Plexiglas and all drawers are one different from each other and inserted in a nearly 2-meter-high pyramid. Shiro Kuramata was very active in Italy and also worked with Ettore Sottsass at Memphis. Sottsass is represented in the sale with different pieces: some furniture (lots 22, 25, 32, 36, 44, estimates €3,000-10,000) and a series of jewelry (lots 67-72, estimates €3,500-6,000).

And then, again, there will be artworks related to the design, such as some photographs of design objects made by Occhiomagico and used as covers of Domus magazine (lots 82-113, estimates €800-6,000). “Occhiomagico is a group that started working in the 1970s with Studio Alchemia,” says Ars Nova specialist Edoardo Scagliola. “It has been somehow forgotten but is in the process of re-evaluation. Already last October there was a retrospective dedicated to this group in Moscow during the Design Week.”

However, the sale will also offer some more classic pieces, like a big table with wrought iron and marble top by Pierluigi Colli from circa 1930 (lot 2, estimate €10,000-15,000); a floor lamp by Cesare Lacca from the 1950s, which still bears the decorative style typical of the previous decade (lot 8M, estimate €1,500-2,000) and a few lamps from the 1950s, which are again fashionable, including a Max Ingrand lamp for Fontana Arte that is currently very desirable (lot 8E, estimate €3,400-4,000).

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TURIN, Italy – Good results for the exhibition “Dylan Dog in Turin – Bruno Brindisi and Fabio Civitelli,” organized by Turin-based auction house and art gallery specialized in comics Little Nemo, once again confirms the popularity of this character in Italy.

For the occasion, in fact, Little Nemo has created a portfolio with the five most beautiful covers of the show printed on fine paper in an edition of 99 priced at 60 euros ($82), which was immediately sold out. “We could have made three times as much,” the director Sergio Pignatone said. “It is a confirmation that all the merchandising products around the figure of this Italian comic hero is very sought-after.”

The character Dylan Dog, a “nightmare investigator” struggling against the paranormal, is interesting in the history of comics because it has been able to reach a very wide audience, including women, and greatly expand the market. The character’s debut in 1986 (it was already in the drawer for a couple of years) was a turning point for the publishing house Sergio Bonelli Editore, which before was known for comics such as Tex, Zagor and the Little Ranger. Along with the comic book Martin Mystère, born in 1982, Dylan Dog has managed to rejuvenate the publisher.

It was born from the mind of Tiziano Sclavi, who was already working for Bonelli Editore, and initially met Sergio Bonelli’s hesitation because it was a horror comic. The quality, however, was so high that the project was launched, and within 30-40 issues it became an epochal phenomenon.

The success is due to the combination of brilliant stories by Tiziano Sclavi on the one hand, and the drawing skill of the other Angelo Stano, who knew how to create elegant reminders to Schiele and Klimt, creating a successful crossover between the popular genre of comics and the highest expressions of art. Also it is a strong character with a romantic allure that was missing the other characters in the comic world – which were limited to the adventure. Plus, he was surrounded by other strong characters such as Groucho, Xabaras and charming female figures such as Morgana.

Stano was joined by other top illustrators who have maintained a high graphic level such as Claudio Villa, Corrado Roi and Bruno Brindisi. To the latter is now dedicated the exhibition of Little Nemo, still ongoing until Thursday, July 19. In the coming months the exhibition will be repeated in Lucca at Lucca Comics and in Padua during the Arte Padova art fair.

The great popularity of the character has immediately fostered a diffuse phenomenon of collecting of Dylan Dog. A legend is told that a copy of the No. 1 in the 1990s was paid as much as a million lire, a high figure for a comic book published just 10 years before. The correct figure today would be around €200-€300 ($272-$408).

For ordinary copies, on average, the cost is between €2 and €5 ($2.72-$6.80). Some important numbers reach €50 ($68), such as the number 13. The price depends of course on the state of conservation, a factor not to be overlooked because of the type of paper and the fact that black covers are easily perishable.

For an entire collection (about 300 numbers), the price ranges from €500 to €1,500 ($680-$2,040). Another element to be taken into account is the fact that right from the beginning many reprints have been made. So it is not a market for big investment but certainly widespread.

With regard to original drawings used to do the comics, prices range from €100 to €600 ($136-$816) depending on the artist. Original covers reach even higher prices, ranging from €1,500 ($2,040) for the covers of the latest issues, designed by Stano, to €5,000-€6,000 ($6,800-$8,160) for the covers of the first 41 numbers, designed by Claudio Villa. In the 1990s one of these covers cost 1 million-1.5 million lire, so now the price has increased considerably.

The covers on display at Little Nemo, instead, are as we said before by Bruno Brindisi, an illustrator who until 2013 has made only the interior of the comics and then found himself confronted with the cover – and with the great masters Villa and Stano – on the occasion of the reprint of 50 numbers in colors by the publishing group L’Espresso. On display are the covers and the sketches showing the not easy task to reinvent the cover without betraying the great legacy.

In general, the comics market today continues to reward quality, rarity and excellent conditions. Especially for the tables there is a real boom at an international level. Think of the Artcurial auction, for example, but also of the arrival in this market of the giants like Christie’s, which has recently held an auction totaling 4.5 million euros (46.1 million), and Sotheby’s, which is preparing to enter the market in Brussels in the beginning of 2015.

Among the most popular authors on the market there are also many Italians such as Hugo Pratt, Milo Manara, Vittorio Giardino, Guido Crepax and Dino Battaglia. Dylan Dog is a very Italian comic book, even if it is printed also in other countries including France, Turkey, northern Europe. At the international level it is especially popular in Croatia and Slovenia.

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After ten years as antique book dealers and an art gallery, Bibliopathos started in 2013 an auction house. Since the beginning of this activity, Bibliopathos has already held six auctions, and in July three more are scheduled. On July 9, Bibliopathos will hold in Turin an auction of Old Master paintings consisting of 59 lots (24 paintings and engravings and drawings for the rest), with estimates ranging between €500 and €100,000. It includes works by great masters from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, but also some minor works with more affordable prices for new collectors.

The two most important pieces are the “Lamentation over the Dead Christ” by Bassano, which once belonged to the royal of Spain King Felipe V and his wife Isabel and was published in the official catalog of their collections (lot 2, estimate €80,000-100,000), and the “Sacrifice of Isaac” by Giulio Cesare Procaccini, a recently discovered autograph work (lot 10, estimate €100,000-120,000). Other important paintings are the Madonna by Van Orley, also signed (lot 18, estimate €25,000-30,000), and “Leda and the Swan,” a painting on panel from the mid-sixteenth century in excellent condition attributed to the Flemish painter Sellaer (lot 13, estimate €70,000-90,000). “For lovers of music,” specialist Antonello Privitera recommends, “there are also two beautiful paintings on this subject: “Allegory of Music” by Van Ehrenstrahl (lot 3, estimate €20,000-25,000) and “Young Lady Playing the Lute” by Backhuyzen, signed and dated (lot 1, estimate €20,000-30,000).”

On July 10, instead, in Verona, Bibliopathos will hold two auctions of books. One is dedicated to Renaissance books, with rare specimens such as lot 104, Henricus Petrus’ “Mikropresbutikon,” a collection of apocryphal texts of the Early Church, which show its links with the pagan culture (estimate €2,000-3,000). The other one is an auction of “Ghosts” books – books which were unknown to librarians, universities and collectors. There will be 33 examples, including a 1498 missal printed on vellum (lot 16, estimate €40,000-50,000), and the only circulating manuscript of the “Picatrix,” a book of Arabian magic, never printed as forbidden and known as “the stairway to hell.”

“The market for antique books, in Italy and abroad, has changed enormously in recent years,” Antonello Privitera says. “There is increasing attention to the splendid specimens, possibly in their first edition. Moreover, the interest of collectors has moved—but this already for twenty years or so— more and more toward science books. I see this trend almost as a consequence of what happens in the present: the spirit of the time is more technologic and more willingly to rely on science for the search of the truth rather than on philosophy or the thought.”

And the art market in general? “The trend is definitely on the rise compared to previous years,” Privitera says, “even though the market has shrunk already for the past five or six years. There is an attention on the part of the customers only to works of quality, partly due to the uncertainty given by the general world economic situation but also, in my opinion, to a greater awareness on the part of collectors, which has developed also from the enormous range of works of art and antique books available online.”

As an auction house, Bibliopathos stands for a policy of zero or low fees for the buyer. “According to our philosophy, in fact, it is especially the seller who must bear the cost and pay for the services of the auction house. We do not want to burden those who are already exposing themselves to the purchase.” Their policy was welcomed by the buyers and the percentage of sales were above 50%.

Other features of the auction house are: first, they do not offer too many lots in order not to tire collectors and in order to devote themselves more to cataloging and exhibiting the works; secondly, they provide catalogs which are extremely rich in information, so that even those who do not know art can get an idea.

If Bibliopathos’ specialization is currently on Antique books and manuscripts and Old Masters paintings, in the future the plan is to open new departments, with special attention to contemporary art and Russian art.

“The decision to offer contemporary art is for adherence to our times,” Privitera says. “It speak a language that has great expressive power, and I think it is right to run it alongside ancient and modern art.

Russian art, especially the Avant-garde, but also Soviet art, is my personal passion and I also believe that, together with attention to emerging authors, it is an excellent ground for pure investors. Indeed, Socialist Realism has remained one of the few areas of contemporary art yet very underrated, even for the difficulty of finding paintings that have an artistic value that bypasses the diktats imposed on painters by the Communist ideology and regime. After all, even the ancient painters had to work while trying to untangle between the whims of the rulers and the impositions of the Catholic Church and most of them were simple artisans of which no traces remain. In a similar way, it is necessary to look for the masterpiece also in Soviet art. It appears every thousand paintings, but when it appears it is a small miracle for the eyes and for the heart.”

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GENOA, Italy – On June 18, Genoa-based auction house Wannenes will put on the block 110 works of modern and contemporary art with estimates ranging from €1,000 to €60,000-80,000 for a tempera on board by Alberto Savinio titled L’isola preziosa, from 1949 (lot 90). “The selection is addressed to mid-range collectors, but is not a very large catalog because we focus on quality,” said specialist Guido Vitali. “The 99 percent of the works come from private collections and range from Italian historical works from the 20th century to international representatives such as Richard Hamilton, Ramon Casas and Jesús-Rafael Soto.”

The core of the auction is composed by a selection of works owned by actor Giuliano Gemma, who tragically died last year in a car accident.

“In addition to being a great actor,” Vitali said, “I should mention that Giuliano Gemma was an art collector who personally knew important Italian artists such as Mario Schifano, Giorgio De Chirico and Corrado Cagli. And he was an artist, as well.” At the auction there will be also two bronze sculptures depicting cabaret dancers of 2.10 meters high, that have been entirely made by Gemma – from the creation of the gypsum structure, to the process of lost-wax casting, to the creation of the bronze statues. They were preserved in the actor’s villa in Cerveteri (lots 32 and 33, estimate €5,000-7,000 each).

“It is a little-explored side of Gemma, who is primarily known as an actor,” Vitali says. “In some interviews released short before he died, Gemma spoke of the joy of seeing the block of material, plaster or marble, which gradually came to life and was transformed under his hands. It was something that fascinated him.”

Among the works from his collection there is a beautiful oil on canvas painting by Giorgio de Chirico from 1946 titled Le Bagnanti, which is published in the artist’s general catalog and belongs to the artist’s romantic baroque production (lot 44, estimate €40,000-50,000).

Among the other works in the catalog, specialist Guido Vitali signalizes an oil painting from the 1930s by Giacomo Balla called Dalie bianche nel vaso, painted in the period after the futuristic production which much sought after today. It is a period in which Balla re-reads its first figurative and realist production. The work has never been auctioned before and it comes from an important collection in Rome (lot 89).

Among the international names there is Ramon Casas (1866-1932), a Catalan artist famous for his portraits and caricatures of Spanish society. He is represented with an oil on canvas of important dimensions (56 x 46 cm), which portrays King Alfonso XIII (lot 82, estimate €8,000-12,000). Similar works as these are exhibited in major museums in Spain, including the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona, where there is a painting depicting the same Alfonso XIII, which is similar to the one at auction at Wannenes. It comes from a private collection from Florence.

There are also some interesting works of Optical Art such those by Jesús-Rafael Soto, a highly demanded artist, who died in 2005 and had a major exhibition at the Pompidou in 2013 on the occasion of the entry into the museum’s collection of many of his works. Two of his works on plexiglas will go up for auction at Wannenes. They are not unique but limited edition (edition of 100) from 1967. They are quite difficult to find on the Italian market; they have been consiged to Wannenes by a Spanish collector (lots 12 and 13, estimate €5,000-7,000 each).

The next day, on June 19 , Wannenes will hold an auction of design with 400 lots and estimates ranging from €200 to €12,000-14,000 for a chest of drawers by Giò Ponti from the 1950s. Design from the first decade after the war is at the center of Wannenes auction. It is a golden moment for Italian design that rose again from the disasters of war combining creativity, entrepreneurship and craftsmanship. Among the highlights is a writing table by Ico Parisi, the model presented by company Altamira in the exhibition in New York in 1954 (estimate €5,000-6,000), and a library LB7 by Franco Albini from 1957 with an estimate of €3,500-4,000.

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ASTI, Italy – Nova Ars, an auction house based in Asti, Piedmont, and specialized in design, will hold a sale on May 6 dedicated entirely to Italian industrial design. It includes just over 100 lots, among which are some scarce icons of the past with original pieces from the period in which they were created.

“In the market of vintage industrial design, prices for the same object can change greatly depending on the series and on production details,” Nova Ars Director Ilario Scagliola said to Auction Central News. “We always try to have an exemplary of the object from the year in which it was conceived or at most one of the following year in order to maintain the originality and the details of the time.”

One of the most interesting lots of the auction is a Richard Ginori tea set in porcelain designed by Giò Ponti. It dates to the 1920s because it has a golden decoration that was used for important and high-level pieces only for a few years around 1923 to 1928 (lot 3, estimate €1,200-€1,500, $1,656-$2,070). It is, therefore, a service that dates back to the beginning of the collaboration between Giò Ponti and Richard Ginori in which one sees the change and the modernity brought by the Milanese master.

One can notice it also comparing, for example, the same tea service with the next piece at auction (lot 3A, estimate €1,800-€2,000), a Richard Ginori vase from 1880 that shows a floral decoration with cherubs, birds and snakes. A production like this would have gone ahead until the 1920s if Gio Ponti had not introduced a modern aesthetic.

Both lots are from Pittoria di doccia, one of the most prestigious porcelain factories in Europe, owned by Ginori and the by Richard Ginori after the merger.

Among the lighting elements, the auction includes a series of lamps realized by Murano company Mazzega and designed by Carlo Nason in 1969, a designer who comes from one of Murano’s oldest families of glassmakers, but at the same time has always been innovative. They are important for their peculiarity and because they are not easy to find (lots 65, 66, 68, 69 and 72). Lot 68, a centerpiece, is part of the same series. Estimates run between €300-$500 and €1,300-€1,500.

Enzo Mari, important designer, artist and design theorist, is represented by two important centerpieces, both realized by Danese Milano. The first one is in porcelain, from 1973, and it was made by hand to bring back the craftsmanship into design (lot 84, estimate €3,000-€3,500). These pieces were expensive and difficult to produce. The other one is made of plastic and it is from 1968. It is rare because production was interrupted. The object was re-proposed by Alessi few years ago and even the Alessi piece is already a collector’s item, so this is even more valuable and rare (lot 59, estimate €1,200-€1,500).

Of note, finally, the lamp by Toni Cordero, famous for its interiors realized for the houses of high society and fashion, which was designed for Artemide in 1990 and is interesting for the type of design and the materials used (lot 92A, estimate €2,500-€3,000).

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PARMA, Italy – A new auction house dedicated to original drawings and illustrations by the masters of comics was born in Italy. Its name is Urania Auction House and is headquartered in Parma. Besides Little Nemo, a Turin-based auction house specialized in comics, Urania is a unique in Italy; while Little Nemo also sells comic books and gadgets, Urania focuses only on original comic boards.

“It is a growing market in Italy,” founder Daniel Gramella told Auction Central News, himself being a collector of original boards for about seven years. “Unlike France or the United States, where there is an already structured market born in the 1980s-90s, in Italy the market has formed itself towards the end of the 1990s and so far has been restricted to few private dealers and the fair sector. But demand is growing.”

It is also significant that Christie’s has just held its first auction dedicated to original comics in Paris, the center of this market, on April 5, realizing €3.9 million with sold rates of 87 percent by value and 73 percent by lot. The auction, organized in collaboration with Parisian art dealer and expert Daniel Maghen, brought as many as 12 records.

In France there are several auction houses that hold sales of comics, among them Artcurial and Millon. Furthermore, there are specialized galleries such as the already mentioned Galerie Daniel Magen, Galerie Marcel in Paris and Galerie Laqua in Berlin. General museums do not usually collect this genre yet, but there are specialized museums, for example one in Lucca.

“In recent years, prices have grown,” Gramella said, “and this also represented an incentive to collectors, but Italy has yet to develop a market structure and the culture that comic boards are original works just like a work of art.” For Tintin by Hergé, for example, a record price of €1.3 million was reached in 2012 at Artcurial.

Urania’s first auction will be held on May 4 at Spazio WOW – Museum of Comics of Milan. It includes 360 lots with estimates ranging from €100 to €22,000 ($138 to $30,409). The works on sale are predominantly by Italian authors, such as Pratt, Manara and Serpieri, but there are also foreign names like Foster and Herriman.

The auction is divided into three sections. The first is dedicated to the great masters, the second to the Disney authors, and the third to “strips,” the typical weekly publications.

Among the notable lots are two watercolors by Hugo Pratt, “The Wedding Part I and Part II” (lots 206 and 207, estimate €8,700-14,000 each). These are two illustrations for the first and the second part of the short story The Wedding, published in the newspaper La Nuova Venezia on July 20 and 27, 1986, by Pratt’s friend from the Argentinean times, Alberto Ongaro. It is a rare case in which Pratt decided to lend his face to one of his characters, thus creating a true self-portrait. Besides being rare, it is important that they were published, which attests their authenticity, because the Pratt market is threatened by fakes.

By Milo Manara there is a watercolor from 1983 titled Everything began with an Indian summer (lot 150, estimate €7,500-10,000), while by Magnus there is a very difficult to find cover realized for A certain Dr. Nadir (1993), in which he shows his mature mastery of technique and composition (lot 133, estimate €3,600-4,500).

Andrea Pazienza, author from Pescara who lived in Bologna, is represented by a portrait of Zanardi, his most famous character (lot 189, estimate €2,900-4,000).

Also by Benito Jacovitti there is a rare work, realized for his masterpiece Pinocchio (1964). The coloring of this work was done by the artist himself, and this makes it even more valuable as Jacovitti usually let himself help in the coloring by one of his assistants (lot 112, estimate €9,500-13,000).

Another great Italian name is Guido Crepax, who is represented through a single panel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1986 (lot 54, estimate €4,500-6,000), a mature work by the Milanese author both in terms of graphic and composition.

Among the international names, the most important works are a table of Tarzan by Hal Foster from 1936, a classic of American comics (lot 360, estimate €18,000-22,000). A work that is rare even in the United States and in Europe is almost impossible to find. And then there is a strip of Krazy Kat by George Herriman, a pillar of American comics, from 1933, which stages the historic misunderstanding between Krazy Kat, cat in love, and Ignatz, the mouse (lot 337, estimate €2,000-3,500).

Among the Disney authors, the highlight are two covers of The Walt Disney Classics, one by Giorgio Cavazzano (lot 296, estimate €450-700), and the other one by Marco Rota (lot 317, estimate €700-1,100).

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ROME – On the 60th anniversary of the death of Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), Italy pays tribute to the artist – myth and icon of 20th-century Mexican culture, with two exhibitions: one at Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome (through Aug. 31), which analyzes the relationship between the artist and the artistic and cultural movements of her time, and the other at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa (starting on Sept. 20) that investigates, instead, the private world of the artist and her relationship with artist and partner Diego Rivera.

Of course in Frida Kahlo’s works the inextricable relationship between art and life, which for her was marked by strong passions and sufferings, is always present, but at the same time her paintings and drawings also reflect the upheavals of her time, her political beliefs, the encounters with characters such as André Breton and Leon Trotsky. “I was born with a revolution,” she liked to say, although she was born in 1907. “Let’s say so. It’s in that fire that I was born, carried by the impetus of the revolt until the moment I saw the light of day. The day was scorching. It inflamed me for the rest of my life. I was born in 1910. It was summer. Shortly after, Emiliano Zapata, el Gran Insurrecto, was to rouse the South. I had this good luck: 1910 is my date.”

Also from the artistic point of view, Frida Kahlo’s works represent a kind of point of intersection between folk traditions and avant-garde art, Modernism and Surrealism, New Objectivity and Magic Realism, Estridentism and Mexican Muralism. And this is what the exhibition in Rome, the first of this size ever dedicated to the artist in Italy, wants to show by putting the works of Frida Kahlo in dialogue with other protagonists of her time, such as Italian artists Giorgio de Chirico and Gino Severini, English artist Roland Penrose, German artist Carlo Mense, and Mexicans José David Alfaro Siqueiros, Maria Izquierdo, Abraham Angel, and of course Diego Rivera.

The exhibition is curated by Helga Prignitz Poda, author of the catalog raisonné of the artist, and includes about 160 works, including paintings and drawings spanning Kahlo’s entire career. There are over 40 portraits and self-portraits, from the first of a long series: Self-portrait with velvet dress from 1926, which she painted when she was 19 years old to win back the beloved Alejandro Gomez Arias. In this work, painted after the terrible accident that marked her life, Frida Kahlo picked up the lesson of her future husband, Diego Rivera, who through his frescoes taught her the heritage of the Renaissance, and inspired herself to artists such as Botticelli and Bronzino.

Another famous self-portrait in the exhibition, which is on display for the first time in Italy, is Self-Portrait with Necklace of Thorns, painted in 1940. In those years, the reputation of Frida Kahlo was already beginning to spread internationally. In 1938 she had her first solo exhibition in New York at the gallery of Julien Levy, famous for bringing the Parisian Surrealists to America. This was followed by an exhibition in Paris in 1939 at the gallery Lerou et Colle, which was organized by Breton. And then, in 1942, she exhibited again in New York, this time in the show “Portrait of the 20th Century” at the MoMA and, in 1943, in an exhibition of female artists organized by the Peggy Guggenheim.

During this period, Kahlo was called to teach at the academy. Around her a small group of followers who called themselves “Los Fridos” arose. In Self-Portrait with Monkeys, from 1943, Frida Kahlo represents herself as a proud teacher and humorously portrays her students as a group of adoring monkeys. Also important collectors and art dealers began to support her with purchases and commissions. For example, the portrait of Marucha Lavín, which is also on display in Rome, was commissioned to Frida Kahlo by one of her collectors, the wealthy engineer Domingo José Lavín. To emphasize the figure of Lavín’s wife, Frida Kahlo adopted the Renaissance format of the tondo.

In the exhibition there are also several drawings, including the Pencil Sketch for the painting Henry Ford Hospital (The Flying Bed) from 1932, and items such as the famous “plaster corset” that held Frida Kahlo prisoner immediately after the accident and that she painted before moving on to portraits. It is a unique piece that until recently was believed to be lost.

And finally the photographs: The exhibition includes portraits of Kahlo made by Nickolas Muray, who was a lover of the artist for 10 years, including Frida on a White Bench, New York, 1939, which later became a famous cover of Vogue magazine, helping to create the myth of Frida Kahlo.

 

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GENOA, Italy – On March 12, part of the collection of the famous antique dealers Bartolozzi, active in Florence for four generations, will go up for auction at Cambi in Genoa. More than 150 lots will be offered with estimates ranging from €200-250 for a golden mirror from the 19th century, up to €150,000-180,000 for two round oil paintings by Baroque artist Giovanni Battista Gaulli called Baciccio. Another part of the collection was dispersed at Christie’s in London in October. The total result was £825,875 with sold rates of 51 percent by lot and 54 percent by value.

The gallery dates to 1877, when Guido Bartolozzi opened his antiques shop in an era in which Florence was the capital of the antiquities market. In addition to the historic location at 18 Via Maggio, which was already known for its prestigious antique dealers, Bartolozzi bought the Renaissance Palazzo Michelozzi in 1920, since then home of the family.

Over the decades the gallery’s offer has been among the highest at the national and international level, ranging between various kinds of objects, artworks, furniture and paintings from the 15th to the 19th century. While following the evolution of taste, the gallery has always focused on quality and originality. The gallery has participated in the most important exhibitions of the field, including the Gotha in Parma and the Biennale of Antiquaries of Florence, where Bartolozzi has always participated since the foundation of the fair in 1959. The grandson of the founder of the gallery, also called Guido Bartolozzi, was also vice-president and general secretary of the fair from 1985 to 2001.

Now, after considering the changes of taste and of the art market, the gallery’s heir and current owner, Massimo Bartolozzi, has decided to close the shop on Via Maggio to continue his activity in the prestigious premises of Palazzo Michelozzi, by appointment only. Massimo Bartolozzi intends to cater to collectors who seek objects that are not just for decoration but are exceptional, and he will focus on the high end of the market.

For Cambi it is an honor to offer this sale, also in consideration of the professional and personal relationship that the auction house founders have with Bartolozzi.

“It has been almost 20 years since the day I found myself with Massimo to run an auction,” Matteo Cambi recalls. “At the time I took care of maritime art catalogs for the auction house Rubinacci and he was the auctioneer. I vividly remember how the room was full of participants, the hands that rose simultaneously, the deals that were running fast, and he always managed to lead the sales toward rewarding results. For me he was a teacher, the room could not resist … It is also because of those days spent together that after some time we decided to open Cambi Auction House.”

The sale catalog includes a great variety of objects, from sculpture to cabinetry, to furniture refined with semiprecious stones, to carved and gilded consoles.

Among the most important pieces, in addition to the already mentioned paintings by Baciccio (lot 56), there will be a couple of Louis XVI Maggiolini-style drawers (lot 80, estimate €40,000-50,000), a pair of lacquered and gilt 18th-century Moors (lot 115, estimate €30,000-40,000), a game table set with semiprecious stones scenes (lot 76, estimate €15,000-18,000), a small Empire desk ascribed to Giovanni Socci (lot 62, estimate €15,000-18,000); three wonderful scrolls (lot 116, €4,000-4,500), a Venetian majolica bowl from the 17th century (lot 108, estimate €1,000-1,500), six lacquered and gilt armchairs of Sicilian manufacture from 1830-1840 (lot 60, estimate €15,000-20,000), a French commode by Mathieu Criaerd (1698-1776) lacquered with chinoiseries and with gilt bronzes (lot 90, estimate €30,000-40,000), and two rare swivel stools from the 18th century (lot 100, €2,000-2,500).

Which is Massimo Bartolozzi’s favorite lot? A pair of legs of an ancient refectory table from the 16th century (lot 3, estimate €500-600). “They are original, I have had them for years, and I almost regret selling them.”

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