BIAF closes with 28,000 visitors and numerous sales. Here are some of them

The 33rd edition of the Florence Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato (BIAF) ended yesterday, Oct. 6, 2024, with record numbers. With more than 28,000 visitors flocking to Palazzo Corsini, the BIAF’s headquarters, the event exceeded expectations, consolidating itself as one of the most important events for art lovers internationally. Compared to the previous edition in 2022, attendance from abroad increased by 15 percent, attracting collectors from Britain, Switzerland, France and the United States. Delegations from prestigious museums, including the Getty Museum in Malibu and Santa Monica, the Uffizi Galleries, the Real Museo di Capodimonte in Naples, the National Gallery in London, and the Gallerie Estensi in Modena, actively participated in the event, confirming the global importance of the event.

This edition saw an increase in guided tours for groups, with the participation of schools, specialized universities, Rotary Clubs and foundations, testifying to the growing interest in art and the antiques market even among young audiences and cultural institutions.

Sales

The 80 participating galleries presented a range of works of the highest quality, meeting the public’s expectations and registering excellent sales, especially of 19th-century and antique art. The Marletta Gallery in Florence marked the sale of a work by Maurice Alexandre Berthon, “Autumn” from 1910, a large oil on canvas, which sold for between 70,000 and 100,000 euros. The Viareggio Society of Fine Arts reported sales of works by Telemaco Signorini(Giardino a Settignano), Oscar Ghiglia(Ragazza del Gabbro) and Giovanni Boldini(Il padre del pittore). Bottegantica in Milan sold a work by Vittorio Corcos to a major Italian institution, while Galleria Paolo Antonacci in Rome sold important works to new clients, including works by Oswald Achenbach(View of the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome) and Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach(The Old Port on Capri) and Carel Max Gerlach Antoon Quaedvlieg(The Blessing of the Animals in Front of the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate), with prices ranging from 200.000 to 20,000 euros.

Galleria Berardi in Rome recorded significant sales during the Florence Biennale, including Vittorio Matteo Corcos’s Portrait of Fogazzaro’s muse, which depicts Yole Biaggini Moschini, an important figure for the writer Antonio Fogazzaro. The work was acquired by an important Italian collector. In addition, the gallery sold the 1926 painting The Cardinals, a work by Antonio Donghi, considered a gem of magic realism. Among the sculptures sold were Giovanni Prini’s Torso of a Young Girl and Nicola D’Antino’s portrait of the Marchesa Medici del Vascello. Livorno’s 800/900 Artstudio in turn marked important sales, such as the work Divertimenti infantili (1875), an oil on canvas by Francesco Gioli, which sold for 60,000 euros. Another notable work is Pomeriggio (Baci di sole) (1910-1915) by Plinio Nomellini, also an oil on canvas, sold for 55,000 euros. Finally, the work Plebe e popolo (1907-1908), an ink and pencil on paper by Lorenzo Viani, sold for 6,000 euros. These sales confirm the strength and relevance of these artists in the art scene of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the contemporary sector, the ML Fine Arts Gallery in Milan also recorded significant sales, with works by Fausto Melotti(Scherzo di primavera) and Lucio Fontana(Concetto Spaziale. Natura), as well as a Paesaggio del mar Rosso by Giovanni Ghisolfi. In the vintage furniture market, Cecchetto Antiquariato sold a Venetian lacquered wood bureau (€340,000) and a pair of inlaid coffee tables (€45,000), as well as a pair of lacquered wood cockpit armchairs (€38,000), while Antichità Giglio reported the sale of a sculpture by Enrico Braga, The Prize, for €30,000.

BIAF’s cultural program was particularly intense, with 24 lectures-double the number of the previous edition-held by internationally renowned experts in Palazzo Corsini’s Salone del Trono. This allowed visitors to deepen their knowledge of art and the antiques market through direct dialogue with some of the leading scholars and specialists in the field.

The Biennale jury awarded important prizes: the prize for best painting went to Giacomo Ceruti’s “Card Players,” exhibited by the Matteo Salamon Gallery in Milan, while the prize for best sculpture was awarded to “Samson Destroys the Temple of the Philistines,” attributed to Francesco Maria Nocchieri and presented by the Alessandra di Castro Gallery in Rome. The award for best decorative art object also went to Alessandra Di Castro Gallery, for a fine work by Giacomo Raffaelli and Nicola De Vecchis.

To crown the event, the prestigious Lorenzo d’Oro Prize was awarded to film director Liliana Cavani for her outstanding contribution to the world of culture.

The 33rd BIAF also received significant media coverage, both nationally and internationally. Numerous journalists from the British, French and German press covered the event, along with 150 accredited journalists. On social media, BIAF doubled its number of followers on Facebook to 40,000, while with Instagram it exceeded 70,000 followers, engaging more than 2 million people with its posts.

Image: Florence, Palazzo Corsini

BIAF closes with 28,000 visitors and numerous sales. Here are some of them

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