San Cristoforo

Details

Luigi Ontani (b. 1943)
San Cristoforo
signed, titled and dated ‘San Cristoforo 1993 Ontani’ (on the reverse)
watercolour on photograph
11½ x 9¼in. (29.3 x 23.3cm.)
Executed in 1993, this work is unique

This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate signed by the artist.

Provenance

Galleria dello Scudo, Verona.
Acquired from the above by the present owner.

Exhibited

Verona, Galleria dello Scudo, Idea Aida del vero diffida: opere di Luigi Ontani: 1980-1995, December 1995- February 1996, no. 27 (illustrated, p. 92).

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Alessandro Diotallevi

adiotallevi@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2954

Lot Essay

This image of 1993, taken in India and water-coloured, unites Ontani’s image with that of a local child. The metamorphosis that Ontani sometimes carries out in the pursuit of innocence and irony, can lead to attitudes and situations that are alien to us, but it is his way of representing exotic worlds and atmospheres distant to ours. In each of his artistic expressions, we are on the stage of his personal “theatre”. On this stage, with narcissism, Ontani plays the role of a Sultan who does not judge or wish to amaze, but thinks solely of expressing himself freely. With a consistency and a determination that cannot leave you indifferent.

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