Piero Manzoni of Chiosca and Poggiolo, better known as Piero Manzoni (July 13, 1933 – February 6, 1963) was an Italian artist known for his tongue-in-cheek approach to avant-garde art. Often compared to the work of Yves Klein, his work anticipated and directly influenced the work of a generation of young Italian artists brought together by the critic Germano Celant in the first exhibition of Poor art held in Genoa in 1967. Manzoni is famous for a series of artworks that question the nature of the art object, directly prefiguring conceptual art. His work eschews the artist's normal materials, instead using everything from rabbit fur to human excrement to "draw upon mythological sources and realize authentic and universal values."
His work is widely seen as a critique of the mass production and consumerism that was changing Italian society (the Italian economic miracle) after World War II. Italian artists such as Manzoni had to negotiate the new economic and material order of postwar Europe through inventive artistic practices that crossed geographical, artistic and cultural boundaries.
Manzoni died at the age of 30 of a myocardial infarction in his studio in Milan on February 6, 1963. His contemporary Ben Vautier signed Manzoni's death certificate, declaring it a work of art.
Investment judgment ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
But how much is his work worth?
Some of the latest awards:
achrome, 1962 – Mixed technique (pebbles & kaolin)/canvas, 74 x 56 cm.
Clearing price: €1.104.474 (£980.000)Price including charges: €1.342.274 (£1.191.000) Estimate: €788.910 – €1.127.014 (£700.000 – £1.000.000) Sotheby's, 03/10/2019 London, United Kingdom
achrome, c.1962 – Mixed media (package, packing paper, sealing wax & string)/canvas, 80 x 100 cm.
Clearing price: €1.127.015 (£1.000.000)Price including charges: €1.369.323 (£1.215.000)Estimate: €1.127.015 – €1.690.522 (£1.000.000 – £1.500.000)Sotheby's, 03/10/2019London, United Kingdom.
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achrome, 1958-1959 – Mixed technique (kaolin)/Canvas, 60 x 80 cm.
Clearing price: €1.809.385 (£1.600.000)Price including charges: €2.181.157 (£1.928.750)Estimate: €1.130.865 – €1.696.298 (£1.000.000 – £1.500.000)Christie's , 04/10/2018London, United Kingdom.
Piero Manzoni (1933-1963)
Achrome – kaolin on canvas
24 x 31 7/8in. (61 x 81cm) 1957-1958 – Realized price GBP 3,608,750, Estimate GBP 3,000,000 – GBP 5,000,000, Christie's 4 October 2018.
“Merda d'Artista n.069” 1961 tin box and printed paper, h cm 4,8, diam. 6,5 cm Signed and numbered N.069 on the cover Provenance Alberto Lucia Collection, Milan 1962 Alberto Lucia, painter and poet, was a close friend of Piero Manzoni. On 23 August 1962 Piero Manzoni issued this certificate: "I declare that Alberto Lucia bought me today 30 grams of shit for 30 grams of gold (18 carat)" Private collection, London Bibliography F. Battino, L. Palazzoli "Piero Manzoni. Catalog Reasoned” Milan, Editions of Vanni Scheiwiller, 1991, p. 474, no. 1053/69BM G. Celant “Piero Manzoni. General catalogue. Volume II” Milan, Skira, 2004, p. 524 no. 889. Il Ponte Casa d'Aste: Valuation 80.000 – 120.000€. Awarded €220.000
