PARIS.- Christie's 20th/21st Century Art including - Evening Sale and the Art Contemporain - Vente du Jour attained exceptional results for the 2x25 works by Italian artists offered in this year's Thinking Italian sections, which marked the 25th anniversary of the sale concept. The group realized €28,106,640 with 92% works sold above their high estimates, driven by active participation from clients across 59 countries bidding in the room, by telephone and online. The top lot was Lucio Fontana's Concetto Spaziale, Mezzogiorno in Piazza S. Marco (1961), which achieved €6,815,000, closely followed by Amedeo Modigliani's Minoutcha (1916-17), which sold for €6,205,000 – representing the top 2 and 3 lots from the entire Paris 20/21 Marquee week.

Executed in 1961, Concetto Spaziale, Mezzogiorno in Piazza S. Marco is one of the twenty-two works that comprise Fontana's legendary Venezia series and unlike many of his other Concetto Spaziale, these paintings are referring to specific Venetian locations – Piazza S. Marco , times of day - Mezzogiorno, and atmospheric conditions in Venice.

Minoutcha is a striking portrait in which Modigliani uses warm peach and pink tones against a dark background to create a mood of quiet melancholy. While the artist's depictions of women have sometimes been criticized for their passivity, Minoutcha's direct gaze conveys resilience and inner strength. Although her name is inscribed on the canvas, her identity remains uncertain to date.

Mariolina Bassetti, Chairman 20/21st Century Art commented: “The Thinking Italian sale concept underscores the continued global appetite for exceptional Italian art. As we celebrate 25 years of this landmark sale series, the inclusion of two masterpieces from private collections highlights Christie's longstanding commitment to championing Italian artists on the international stage. Having been acquired by the renowned collector and Palazzo Grassi founder Paolo Marinotti over four decades ago, Fontana's Concetto Spaziale, Mezzogiorno in Piazza S. Marco will now join an European private collection, while Modigliani's Minoutcha embarks on a new chapter after 25 years in an European private collection. It was equally gratifying to see spirited bidding for Michelangelo Pistoletto's 1000th work entitled Migrante, sold to benefit the Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto."

In total two works sold to benefit good causes, Mario Schifano's Verginale, 1961 sold for €320,000, benefitting Magazzino Italian Art Foundation and Michelangelo Pistoletto's Migrante, dating from 2026 and which sold for 450,000 benefitting the “Preventive Peace Worldwide” project by Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto.

Michaelangelo Pistoletto added: “I am delighted that my thousandth mirror painting is being auctioned in support of Preventive Peace Worldwide: it is a cause that is deeply close to my heart. Preventive peace stems from the idea that peace should not come about only after war, as a consequence of destruction, but must be built beforehand, day by day, with the participation and responsibility of every individual. This is work that Cittadellarte has been carrying out for years, through research and practice, placing art at the heart of a responsible transformation of society. The mirror has taught me that no one can remain outside the artwork: everyone is part of what they see, and therefore also part of the peace we wish to build.”

The Art Contemporain Day Sale in Paris on 23 October offered another 25 works by Italian masters, highlighted by Salvo's Gennaio, painted in 2006, which achieved €166,400. The painting was acquired by a private collector in the year it was created and has remained in the same collection ever since. Also from a private collection, Alberto Magnelli's Masse Pesante (1958) sold for €153,600. Another highlight was Lucio Fontana's Crocifissione (1957–58), which was donated by the artist to a collector friend in 1963 and consigned for sale by the collector's heirs, achieving €115,200.