The Italian art market is continuing to rouse enthusiasm and attract the attention of worldwide famous collectors. A sector that has recorded a constant development over the years. Just think of 2007 when Christie’s and Sotheby’s held the Italian Sales in London. The former auction house had totalled 21 billion euros, while Sotheby’s almost took 22 billion. Last year, both auction houses sold 87% of their catalogue works.  A noticeable result for Sotheby’s, whose highest sale estimate reached 16,740,000 euros, thus realizing a 76% spread, almost equalling the success achieved in 2006, when an 80% increase was recorded.  On the contrary, Christie’s achieved 8% less than the highest estimates.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

Last October, the death of Ileana Sonnabend launched an upset in the art world. A woman of refined taste, for decades she was the point of reference for contemporary art, defined by the critic Achille Bonito Olivia as “the greatest gallerist of the second half of the XX century”.