Auctions, Superintendency blocks sale of 57 lots from Pandolfini, deemed unique exceptional collection

The auction world was affected yesterday, December 3, 2018, by an unusual, and perhaps unique event in the history of the Italian market: the Pandolfini Modern and Contemporary Art auction was marked by the intervention of the Superintendence of Rome, which subjected to a declaration of exceptional historical-artistic interest all the lots in the catalog that were marked with the provenance of a major Italian company. These were 57 lots (out of the 111 at auction), bound as a single exceptional collection by the General Directorate of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. This nucleus, reads a note, “represents the tangible evidence of one of the most interesting operations of enlightened industrial patronage in the Italy that was approaching the years of the economic boom,” and the sale was blocked “because the works listed are configured as an art collection with specific and very peculiar characteristics, covering an exceptional interest for the circumstances that determined its formation and for the multiplicity of the interdisciplinary fields involved.”

“Although for us, of course, this situation has meant, on the one hand, the withdrawal from sale of all the works involved,” said Pandolfini’s CEO Pietro De Bernardi, “with obvious economic and organizational problems, on the other hand, the reasons with which the Directorate General of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage has taken steps to initiate the procedure for the declaration of exceptional cultural interest make us proud to have managed and presented such an important collection for the Italian cultural scene.” The other works, however, went regularly to auction.

In the photo, one of the works in the auction: Renato Mambor, Stamped Men (1963; stamps on paper, 70 x 50 cm)

Auctions, Superintendency blocks sale of 57 lots from Pandolfini, deemed unique exceptional collection

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.