The Man in the Kitchen

Mixed media on paper. Signed lower center. The renowned Russian set designer, painter, and illustrator Nicola Benois, who was the chief set designer at Milan's Teatro Alla Scala from 1935, contributed some of his drawings in 1977 to illustrate Francesco de' Rogati's book, "La cucina dell' uomo solo" (SM editore, 1977). The original drawing, which later served as the cover illustration for the text, printed in a smaller format, is shown here. Framed.

Alleluia

Pencil on paper. Signature and title at the bottom. Attached on the back is a handwritten greeting card by the artist, dated 1945; it likely predates the drawing, which, however, is still figurative, albeit with stylized forms. Indeed, Emilio Scanavino, a painter and sculptor originally from Genoa, after initially working figuratively, developed post-Cubist characteristics into his work, with forms that gradually became more stylized until they completely dissolved in the early 1950s. Framed.

The Man in the Kitchen

Mixed media on paper. Signed lower center. The renowned Russian set designer, painter, and illustrator Nicola Benois, who was the chief set designer at Milan's Teatro alla Scala from 1935, contributed some of his drawings in 1977 to illustrate Francesco de' Rogati's book, "La cucina dell' uomo solo" (SM editore, 1977). Presented here is an original drawing, which was later used as an illustration for the text, printed in a smaller format. Framed.

Priests with Demon 1968

Marker on paper. Signed and dated lower right. A greeting card from the artist, autographed by the artist, is attached below the drawing. Known as "the painter of dreams," Gianfilippo Usellini uses his art to narrate episodes of everyday life and, above all, childhood memories. His work is characterized by simple colors and forms, yet rendered with an ironic, suspended language that, while drawing on fifteenth-century art, translates into magical, suspended, surreal, fairytale-like atmospheres. His favorite themes have always been "libraries, porticos, courtyards, nuns, priests, children, cardinals, judges, mermaids, dogs, cats, lovers"...everything and everyone, he said, because "they are the image of modern man." Framed.

Spirals 1969

Crayons on paper, drawings on both front and back. The back features a tag from the Roberto Crippa General Catalogue, with the catalog number. The work is accompanied by a photo certificate from Galleria Pace in Milan, signed by the artist and containing technical data. Roberto Crippa was an exponent of Italian Spatialism, for which he signed the Third Manifesto drafted by Lucio Fontana in 1950. His works are characterized by abstract geometric figures, which from 1955 onwards became polymaterial, created by assembling various materials, even very different from each other (iron, bronze, asbestos, cork, tissue paper), then united by color. In the early 1950s, Crippa began his series of paintings called Spirali, of a geometric and abstract nature: with a quasi-circular (but never perfectly round) geometric gesture, Crippa created convoluted spaces, from which rays were generated that ideally projected outside the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Framed work.

Spirals 1969

Crayons on paper, drawings on both front and back. The back features a tag from the Roberto Crippa General Catalogue, with the catalog number. The work is accompanied by a photo certificate from Galleria Pace in Milan, signed by the artist and containing technical data. Roberto Crippa was an exponent of Italian Spatialism, for which he signed the Third Manifesto drafted by Lucio Fontana in 1950. His works are characterized by abstract geometric figures, which from 1955 onwards became polymaterial, created by assembling various materials, even very different from each other (iron, bronze, asbestos, cork, tissue paper), then united by color. In the early 1950s, Crippa began his series of paintings called Spirali, of a geometric and abstract nature: with a quasi-circular (but never perfectly round) geometric gesture, Crippa created convoluted spaces, from which rays were generated that ideally projected outside the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Framed work.

The Man in the Kitchen

Mixed media on paper. Signed lower center. The renowned Russian set designer, painter, and illustrator Nicola Benois, who was the chief set designer at Milan's Teatro Alla Scala from 1935, contributed some of his drawings in 1977 to illustrate Francesco de' Rogati's book,"La cucina dell' uomo solo" (SM editore, 1977). Presented here is an original drawing, which was later used as an illustration for the text, printed in a smaller format. Framed.

Spirals 1969

Crayons on paper, drawings on both front and back. The back features a tag from the Roberto Crippa General Catalogue, with the catalog number. The work is accompanied by a photo certificate from Galleria Pace in Milan, signed by the artist and containing technical data. Roberto Crippa was an exponent of Italian Spatialism, for which he signed the Third Manifesto drafted by Lucio Fontana in 1950. His works are characterized by abstract geometric figures, which from 1955 onwards became polymaterial, created by assembling various materials, even very different from each other (iron, bronze, asbestos, cork, tissue paper), then united by color. In the early 1950s, Crippa began his series of paintings called Spirali, of a geometric and abstract nature: with a quasi-circular (but never perfectly round) geometric gesture, Crippa created convoluted spaces, from which rays were generated that ideally projected outside the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Framed work.

Sketch

Mattia on paper. Signed lower right. Emilio Scanavino, a painter and sculptor originally from Genoa, began his career as a figurative artist, then developed post-cubist characteristics into his work, with forms that gradually became more stylized until they completely dissolved in the early 1950s. Framed.

Untitled

Ballpoint pen on paper. Signed lower right. The work is accompanied by a photo certificate by the artist. Carmelo Cappello, known as a painter but above all as a sculptor, began his career with figurative painting, but under the influence of Russian Constructivism, he shifted toward abstraction, both in sculpture and painting, falling within the Spatialist movement. Framed work.

Painted ceramics. In the 1970s, the Milanese company "Ceramica Fiori Oscuri" created a series of plates decorated with exclusive designs by ten contemporary painters. The series was limited to 250 pieces. The artists involved were: Gianfilippo Usellini, Domenico Cantatore, Domenico Purificato, Remo Brindisi, Gino Meloni, Virgilio Guidi, Pompeo Borra, Roberto Crippa, Franco Gentilini, and Gianni Dova. All plates bear the artist's signature on the front and the company logo and serial number on the back. In this group, the plates bear different serial numbers, and in particular, the plates with designs by Gianni Dova and Gianfilippo Usellini bear the words "Prova di colore" on the back, indicating that the copy was made before the final print, which was later confirmed for the plate signed by Dova, while Usellini subsequently chose another of his subjects. Borra's plate shows a small trace of restoration at the top; Crippa's plate has been reglued.

Cat, 1969

Pencil on paper. Signed and dated at the top, with the location Rome. The drawing was part of a letter Gentilini signed to Elena Pelizzoni as a receipt for the deposit for a three-color drawing for a ceramic plate that would be part of the series later produced by the "Ceramica Fiori Oscuri" group with the collaboration of contemporary artists. A photocopy of the entire letter is attached. The drawing comes from a private collection in Milan. Framed.

Child on Horseback

Oil on canvas. Signed MAGO lower right. Maurizio Goracci, aka Mago, is a Roman painter of figurative subjects, with figures that, though well-defined, are always set against a surreal background, shaded in acidic palettes, lending a sense of the fantastic. A recurring theme is a figure on horseback, this time a child, whose face and extremities are recognizable, while the entire body, as well as the horse's silhouette, are covered in bright, floral fabrics, standing out against the undefined, dark background. The work is presented in a frame.

Invasion 1996

Acrylic and sand on canvas. Title, signature, and date on the back. Ferrari's oeuvre has developed entirely around the sign, passing through various interpretative phases. This work belongs to the period after 1995, in which the linearity of the sign gives way to chaos, forms meet and clash freely within the canvas, and the previously used writing breaks in all directions. The sign is completely free of superstructures and is able to express itself in its entirety, manifesting dynamically across the entire surface of the painting. These works are created with black sand from Otranto, a material that allows Ferrari to express the full theatricality of the sign and which still represents the fundamental element of his painting today: through the sand, the sign traces its paths within the space of the painting and beyond.

Mixed media on canvas. Signed lower right. After his initial Futurist phase, Sordini's painting allowed the material to take center stage and became increasingly rarefied. His interest in the sign grew and became more defined—a slender and sparse sign, primary yet sinuous, and in a soft, delicate, almost impalpable palette. Sordini "uses a completely graphic technique to create sparse, subtle traces of color on the canvas, dominated by a single hue, that evoke memories of filamentary anthropoid images".

In Nome della Pace sulla Terra 1969

Oil on canvas. Signature, title, and date in Cyrillic on the back. Viktor Petrovich Rudametkin is a Ukrainian artist who has established himself as a landscape painter and colorist. In this work, using his characteristically vibrant palette, he depicts a peasant mother in the middle of a field of sunflowers, a symbol of life and peace, contrasting with the images of military planes streaking across the sky. Created during the years when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, the image can be thought of as a call to peace and a message of hope for the artist's native land, still torn apart by the serious conflict with Russia.

Mother with Child

Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. On the back there is a cartouche of authentication from "Meeting Art Roma"; with the data of the work, and stamp of provenance from the "Centro Artistico Mercurio, Milan". Giuseppe Migneco, originally from Messina but who moved to Milan when he was young, was one of the major representatives, together with Aligi Sassu, Renato Birolli, Bruno Cassinari, Renato Guttuso, of the Corrente group open to the European artistic avant-gardes. In favor of a painting of social commitment, he investigates reality with a critical, objective, historical eye. His characters with hard, square faces, marked by hard work and rendered with bright and strong tones, recall his Sicily with violent and clear features, but also the social realism of the Mexican muralists. In this work appear his characteristic figures (which could belong to both Sicily and Mexico!) engaged in a very prosaic and realistic activity of popular daily life, that is, a mother who combs and cleans her son's head, probably infested with parasites. The work is presented in a frame.

Relief Painting '58-'68

Mixed media on canvas, with material applications. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work is presented in a frame. From a collection of the artist's family.

Relief Painting, 1958-1968

Mixed technique on canvas, with material and plate applications. On the back there is a label from a Parisian art transport service, with the artist's name: ORAZI's works participated in numerous exhibitions in the French capital, both personal and collective. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, dedicated himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerge from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, is the exploration of nature, its components and phenomena (flowers, plants, sand, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. Often in these works there is a reference to volcanic activity and the material it produces, sometimes expressed in titles such as "Lava Flow", "Volcanic Sands", Volcanic Beaches". The work is presented in a frame. Coming from the artist's family collection.

Relief Painting '58-'68

Mixed media on canvas, with material applications. Signed lower right. From 1958 to 1968 ORAZI, who had already moved from the figurative to the abstract phase, devoted himself to creating compositions in relief: he collected and used materials and fibres of different types, especially natural materials and fibres such as tiny grains of sand, seeds, plant filaments and fragments of bark, with which he created relief shapes that emerged from the surface of the canvas. The basis of this artistic experience, called Peinture en Relief, was the exploration of nature, its components and its phenomena (flowers, plants, sands, rocks, volcanic lava, coasts and seabeds, eruptions, storms, petrified meteorites). The works of this period were initially characterised by a still rather low relief; but subsequently the relief became more and more pronounced, often coming out of the perimeter of the support, to the point of appearing more like statues than paintings. The work is presented in a frame. From a collection of the artist's family.

Jehovah Ordonnant de sa Main Puissante une Famille Cosmique, 1970

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. In ORAZI's abstract pictorial phase, his strong inclination to create circular shapes, often knotted or concentric, is often expressed. This tendency becomes central in the pictorial phase of the years 1970-1977, called Ligne Circulaire, in which he abandons creations in relief and the reference to the shapes and impressive events of nature, to instead depict the harmonious dimension of the universe, the birth and movement of the planets, the vastness of the firmament. The colors soften, are rich and at the same time tender. In some paintings ORAZI also depicts fascinating representations of Mother Earth embracing her creatures (insects, birds, flowers) or of the Moon. Or as in this work, he expresses a direct reference in the title to divine creation, depicting "God who orders the cosmic family with his powerful hand". The work comes from the artist's family collection. It is presented in a frame.

Tête-Paysage 1970 ca.

Oil on canvas. Signed lower left. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from 1970 to 1977. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or heads of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions): the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies, or as in this work, hide a head or a face, often "faunesco". The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Figures of Lovers 1975

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated lower right. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from the 1970s. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or heads of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions), often couples of lovers kissing: the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies, often in an erotic attitude. The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.

Figures, 1975 ca.

Oil on canvas. The painting belongs to ORAZI's production from the 1970s. In this phase the artist abandoned completely abstract and relief painting and returned to figurative painting, rendered however with simplified and distorted lines. In particular, he created the series called Lignes Circulaires and the one, to which this work belongs, of paintings called Têtes-Paysage, in which he created compositions that depict mysterious human heads or those of fauns and mythological figures (sometimes accompanied by their insect companions), often couples of lovers kissing: the lines, in these paintings, intertwine to simultaneously form compositions, intertwining bodies. Here we can perceive some figures, human and animal, probably mythological, engaged in an erotic plot. The work comes from the artist's family's private collection.