The 10 must-see works at Flashback 2018

Flashback confirms itself as one of the most interesting art fairs on the national scene: also this year’s edition, inspired by the book The Shores of Another Sea by Chad Oliver, offers, as is typical of Flashback, an extraordinary mix of ancient and modern works, under the banner of the idea that art is all contemporary. The selection made by the directors, Stefania Poddighe and Ginevra Pucci, is particularly refined and of the highest quality, and has attracted collectors from most of Italy as well as from abroad (particularly France, given the geographical proximity but also given the attention that the transalpine country traditionally pays to Italian art fairs) to the preview. Finestre sull’Arte is in-kind partner of Flashback: we were at the preview and offer you our selection of ten artworks not to be missed among the stands of the fair.

For those who want to visit Flashback, the appointment is in Turin from today, Nov. 1, until Nov. 4, opening from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets: full 10; reduced 8 (reductions provided by law); reduced 5 for Abbonamento Torino Musei, Abbonamento Musei Lombardia Milano, Torino + Piemonte Contemporary Card, Touring Club Card; free: Thursday, Nov. 1 Abbonamento Torino Musei, Abbonamento Musei Lombardia Milano, Torino + Piemonte Contemporary Card, Touring Club Card, mef, free provided by law.

Below is our selection.

1. Nicolò di Pietro, Saint August ine (c. 1405)
Niccolò di Pietro’s Saint Augustine (documented in Venice from 1394 to 1430) is one of Flashback’s most interesting gold backgrounds: of great elegance (note the ornaments of the bishop-saint’s liturgical vestments, but also the highly refined pastille reliefs used for the nimbus and medallion, and indicating that we are in the midst of a full Adriatic late Gothic context), it shows the saint not only with his bishop’s attributes, but also in the black habit of the Augustinians. In 1998 it was also exhibited at the important exhibition Fioritura tardogotica nelle Marche, curated by Paolo Dal Poggetto (the catalog entry at the time was edited by Andrea de Marchi, who is credited with attributing it to the Venetian artist). The work is presented at Flashback by Maison d’Art.

2. Jacopo della Pila, Allegory of Temperance (c. 1470-1480).
This sculpture represents an Allegory of Temperance attributed to Jacopo della Pila (news from 1471 to 1502). In marble, it presents the typical manners of the Milanese artist (but Neapolitan by adoption: in fact, he was active in Campania for a long time), of whom very little is known, however: the nostalgic formal elegance, which at the gates of the sixteenth century continues to look to late Gothic art, is the stylistic feature that most characterizes the sculptor. The work is presented at Flashback by F&F Antiquities.

3. Eleazaro Oldoni, Nativity (late 15th century).
The double-sided work by the Vercelli-born Eleazaro Oldoni (Vercelli, news from 1478 to 1517) was one of the most eagerly awaited works at this edition of Flashback and during the preview and inauguration it catalyzed much of the attention: hitherto given as a work of anonymity, in Turin it is presented with attribution to Oldoni, which thus enriches the painter’s meager catalog. It depicts on the recto a Nativity and on the verso a Face of Christ (the veil of Veronica). The work is presented at Flashback by Benappi.

4. Macrino d’Alba and Master of San Martino Alfieri, Saint Amb rose (late 15th century).
This Saint Ambrose was part of a dismembered polyptych made jointly by Macrino d’Alba (real name Gian Giacomo de Alladio, Alba, c. 1460 - 1520) and another anonymous painter, identified simply as “Master of San Martino Alfieri.” This was a flap polyptych (a reconstruction is also shown at the booth) in which the manner of Macrino and that of the Master of San Martino, an artist of French culture, appeared very similar (and is therefore datable to the late 15th century, a period when this type of culture characterized, albeit briefly, Macrino’s art). The work is presented at Flashback by Moretti Fine Art.

5. Adrian van Overbeke, Ascension (ca. 1530).
This Ascension by Adrian van Overbeke (Antwerp, news from 1508 to 1529) is another of the most eagerly awaited works: coming from a Roman collection, it too was formerly part of a polyptych, dedicated to the Passion of Christ. TheAscension formed a flap of it and is a recent find of exceptional significance. The other panels are preserved among several museums around the world. The work reveals the strong eccentricity that characterizes Overbeke: one only has to see the Christ being literally sucked into a vortex, an invention of extraordinary originality. The work is presented at Flashback by Caretto & Occhinegro.

6. Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of a Woman on a Blue Background and Portrait of a Woman on a Green Background (early 17th century).
A pair of very fine oil-on-silver portraits, depicting two unidentified ladies in seventeenth-century dress: this is the work of Ottavio Leoni (Rome, 1578 - 1630), a portrait specialist as well as an artist very close to Caravaggio (perhaps the most famous portrait of the great Lombard painter is his). Small works (they are two small ovals measuring 5 by 3.8 centimeters), in excellent condition, attributed to Leoni by Daniele Benati, a scholar of seventeenth-century art. The work is presented at Flashback by Il Mercante delle Venezie.

7. Mattia Preti, Saint Matthew (c. 1635-1640).
Attributed to Mattia Preti (Taverna, 1613 - Valletta, 1699) by Keith Sciberras, one of the leading experts on the Calabrian artist, this St. Matthew belongs to Preti’s Roman sojourn, and given its size the painting was probably originally part of a series devoted to the apostles. According to Sciberras, the St. Matthew in particular must have been related to the St. James the Greater now at the Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart and to a St. Paul and another apostle that passed on the market about a decade ago. The work is presented at Flashback by Giamblanco Gallery.

8. Giovanni Bernardo Carbone, Portrait of a Jurist with Child (mid-17th century).
Giovanni Bernardo Carbone (Genoa, 1614 - 1683) was one of the leading portrait painters of the Genoese nobility in the seventeenth century, and this Portrait of a Jurist with Child, attributed to the artist by Daniele Sanguineti, a specialist in Genoese art of the time, is a typical example of his production: it depicts a jurist in a black suit (imposed on the nobles of Genoa at the time for reasons of modesty and sobriety) accompanied by a tender child pointing at him, and both characters are marked by a high degree of naturalism. The work is presented at Flashback by Arcuti Fine Art.

9. Arturo Martini, Maternity (1931).
Carved from a single block of Finale stone without a model, this Maternity by Arturo Martini (Treviso, 1889 - Milan, 1947) stands out, almost solitary, in a booth devoted to minimalism, where the sculpture appears along with (a few) works by other great artists of the 20th century. A rather imposing work (it is 180 centimeters high), it stands out for its immediacy cloaked in strong lyricism. The work is presented at Flashback by Shield Gallery.

10. Pinot Gallizio, Neptune (1961).
This Neptune is a typical example of certain production by Pinot Gallizio (real name Giuseppe Gallizio, Alba, 1902 - 1964), one of the founders of the Situationist International and a friend of great artists such as Enrico Baj, Asger Jorn, Constant, and Ettore Sottsass. Many of his works are marked by a high degree of irony, and this Neptune does not shy away from it: the god of the sea is reduced almost to a kind of toy soldier marching with his trident firmly aimed ... and under the sun. The work is presented at Flashback by Galleria del Ponte.

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