Sotheby's to Offer 'Im Spazio: The Space of Thoughts'

T his May in New York, Sotheby’s will offer 15 exceptional works capturing the revolutionary achievements of some of the leading artists of the post-war period - in both Italy and America. These artists, in their own ways, were responding to a combination of the effects of war, the radical developments in science, space exploration and technology, as well as to the art being created by their contemporaries. The artists represented in this group - among them Lucio Fontana, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Salvatore Scarpitta, Alberto Burri, Alexander Calder and Claes Oldenburg - all chose to react in a certain way, resisting the paintbrush and the easel, and challenging the two-dimensional picture plane through radical gestures (shaping, puncturing, tearing and carving) to break down the barriers between painting and space around it.

The extraordinary collection to be offered carries the title Im Spazio: The Space of Thoughts in homage to the epoch-defining 1967 exhibition curated by Germano Celant, considered the genesis of the Arte Povera moment. Highlights will be showcased at a preview exhibition at Sotheby’s in Milan - open today through to April 12. The collection will then go on public view in its entirety in New York before being offered for sale in Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction this May with a combined estimate in excess of $30 million. The group comes to sale from the collection of one of the most avid appreciators of this moment in art - Daniella Luxembourg, a leading light and major force in the international art world for the last five decades, described by her friend and former colleague Simon de Pury as “one of the grande dames of the art world”.

“It is always deeply moving to come face to face with masterpieces of this caliber, especially when united by such a profound narrative. The marriage of these 20th-century Italian and American masters feels both instinctive and unexpected—poetic, daring, and raw. What makes the collection so extraordinary is the way in which it reveals hidden dialogues between these pieces, drawing out nuances that might otherwise remain unseen.”

Lisa Dennison, Chairman, Sotheby’s Americas

The uniting thread that runs through the collection is the artists’ desires to explore space and materiality, all the while challenging the supremacy of the picture plane: from the imprint of Fontana’s hand assailing the sparkling and punctured surface of La fine di Dio to the splintered canvas of Burri’s monumental Cretto and Fabro’s reshaping of Italy’s form with a plethora of different materials in Sullo stato. Just as these Italian artists were disrupting traditional artistic boundaries and embracing raw, unconventional materials, American artists like Oldenburg and Calder were simultaneously challenging the status quo in their respective practices. While the mediums they used differed, they all sought to blur the lines between sculpture and everyday objects, transforming the ordinary into something extraordinary. Calder and Oldenburg were placed in dialogue with the likes of Fontana, Burri and Scarpitta in Daniella’s home - allowing all of the works to exist in their space while at the same time harboring interesting interactions between them.

“These artists sought to break free from the constraints of art history and reimagine what art could be, reflecting the rapid socio-political changes of the time.”

Claudia Dwek, Chairman of Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Europe

For Daniella, the pursuit of these works was as significant as the acquisitions themselves. She pursued them with trailblazing foresight - well before these artists were duly recognized for their catalytic impact on the history of art. Daniella’s belief in these artists was such that she was ready to go to any lengths to secure the works she felt represented them best, her purchases setting, along the way, numerous new records for key artists at the time (Scarpitta, Pistoletto and Oldenburg). Many of the works also benefit from tremendously early provenance: Calder’s Armada, for instance, was previously in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art as well as the collection of legendary collector Claude Berri, and the Scarpitta once belonged in the collection of visionary, avant-garde collector and gallerist Michel Durand-Dessert. Daniella’s unique connoisseurship of these artists extended beyond the walls of her home: she championed these markets herself, organizing monographic shows for artists including Burri, Fontana and Scarpitta (among others) at Luxembourg & Co.