Salvo (1947–2015) occupies a distinctive position in postwar Italian art, having moved from the intellectual rigor of Arte Povera and conceptual practices in the late 1960s to a highly personal reinvention of painting in the decades that followed. Rejecting the dematerialization of art at a moment when it was still dominant, he returned to figuration with a deliberately simplified language of landscapes, architecture, and light, constructing scenes that feel less observed than remembered. His work, defined by geometric forms, luminous color, and a quiet metaphysical atmosphere, unfolds as a meditation on time—morning, evening, seasons, and journeys, placing him in subtle dialogue with figures such as Giorgio de Chirico while remaining unmistakably singular in its clarity and restraint.
Introduction
Salvo was born Salvatore Mangione to a poor family in rural Sicily in 1947. Though he maintained close ties to Sicily, he based his mature art practice in Turin, where he would live for most of his life. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he was a part of the Arte Povera movement. Widely regarded as a branch of conceptualism, Arte Povera was a movement of young artists in urban centers in Northern and Central Italy who championed a broader use of media—mirrors, rags, rocks—and sought to disrupt contemporary expectations, particularly of what defined “high” art. A strong proponent of the movement critique of established values and use of unconventional materials, he created works with newspaper cuttings, marble tombstones, and engraved text. During this part of his career Salvo befriended the likes of Alighiero Boetti, Giulio Paolini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, and Gilberto Zorio. His early works—photographic self-portraits, engraved marble slabs bearing his name, and ironic appropriations of art historical motifs—positioned him as both participant and critic of conceptual art’s dematerialization. Yet, in the mid-1970s, Salvo enacted a decisive and almost heretical return to painting. At a time when figuration was still viewed with suspicion in avant-garde circles, he embraced it fully, developing a highly codified visual language of landscapes, architecture, and luminous atmospheres.
However, beginning around 1973, Salvo would dramatically shift focus from his conceptual works, primarily rooted in photography and the use of language, to a more pictorial format of his paintings based on landscape, mythology, and the art historical tradition, as defined by increasingly exaggerated and artificial forms and colors. This return did not signify a departure from his conceptual roots, but rather an evolution, as he wove the threads of avant-garde thought into the rich tapestry of his painterly expression. The era from 1980 to 2011 saw Salvo refining his visual language, creating landscapes that were at once vibrant and contemplative. The hyper-saturated colors and rounded shapes, as seen in the present lot are hallmarks of his style, which stood in contrast to the prevailing aesthetics of the 1980s. Salvo’s landscapes are more than mere representations; they are nuanced explorations of place and time, where imagined spaces become as real as any physical location.
“Painting has to remember all the sunsets of a life and all the sunsets of the world.”
Salvo’s landscapes invite the viewer to step into a world where time slows, where the psychological landscape is as important as the physical. In this work, the absence of human figures is noteworthy, a characteristic feature of Salvo’s work that allows the place itself to become the central protagonist. The landscape speaks of the quietude and introspection that August bestows upon the land, an atmosphere that is almost palpable in the thick, textured application of paint.
A Reinvention of Painting: Style and Technique
“I could be considered as pertaining to that category of artists who express themselves through rapture. I cannot help but believe in the existence of occult forces which, while the painter sleeps, enter the painting itself and correct and improve it.”
SALVO IN HIS STUDIO, UNDATED. © 2024 SALVO
Salvo’s landscapes, informed by the metaphysical work of Giorgio de Chirico, are animated by complex psychological narratives and abstract concepts. Notable is his interest in time: Salvo’s capturing of differing lighting, seasons and hours provided him with a new visual language to interact with and reflect his surroundings. His pastoral scenes reject assumptions of sedateness and passiveness; in this work Salvo paints the nebulous tree like a heat map, brimming with life and activity, and the rippling motion of sunlight on sea brings the forces of nature to life. Salvo himself believed that his work was inspired by forces beyond his control. Light plays a central role. Whether a glowing sun suspended over a valley or a twilight gradient dissolving architecture into color, Salvo treats illumination not as a natural phenomenon but as a structural element of the composition. In this, his work resonates with the metaphysical stillness of Giorgio de Chirico, while maintaining a distinctly contemporary sensibility.
Color and Light
Salvo’s theatrical use of color and light emphasizes the natural world and, importantly, the individual’s response to it. The artist was known to paint similar vistas repeatedly at different times of day, particularly during periods of transition such as at dawn and dusk. For him, these times reflected “a moment of suspension, of wonderment in the face of nature.” For instance, he painted several springtime and autumnal scenes of the same rolling hills and Italianesque village, complete with church and bell tower, depicted in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The importance of the sun and the changing light’s role in the landscape is illustrated through the use of color. The composition features a strong light source at the far left, set off with bright yellow, with shadows on the landscape projecting to the right. In the lower left quadrant, as of yet untouched by the sun, Salvo applies more natural colors—deeper greens and yellows and browns, as might be expected within the landscape. However, in the areas bathed in sunlight at the top and right of the composition, Salvo’s choice is more stylized—fuchsias and light oranges and baby blues. Thus, this moment of transformation is revealed. The bright colors and the collage-like layering of the geometric forms in space in such colors as bubble gum pink have led to some more juvenile readings of Salvo’s work, which the artist vehemently rejected. As he explained:
“This interpretation was a painful discovery for me: my painting is not intended to be childish, and indeed it is very precise in its outlines. But I understand how it can be misleading. First of all, it has a sort of fairy-tale atmosphere: I’ve always been fascinated by miracles, and also by fairy tales, but repetition of the same events every day means we lose sight of the irony…There has to be at least some correspondence with reality. Since our world of feeling and thoughts depends entirely on the so-called objective world, I don’t see what we should communicate if not in relation to it.”
Therefore, while strongly idyllic and cheerful in their intent to reflect the miraculous in what may otherwise be viewed as the banal, Salvo’s paintings, anchored by his awareness of the place’s identity and the environment, seek to reflect the true nature of the landscape and the viewer’s response to it.
Main Painting Series
Fine del Giorno (End of the Day)
The Fine del Giorno series captures the transitional moment between day and night. Bathed in warm, often saturated hues—deep oranges, violets, and reds—these compositions emphasize the dissolution of form into atmosphere. Architecture softens, shadows elongate, and the landscape becomes a stage for light’s final performance.
These works are less about depiction than about duration. They hold time in suspension, transforming a fleeting moment into a permanent, almost meditative image. The emotional register is one of quiet closure, a poetic contemplation of endings.
Primavera (Spring)
In Primavera, Salvo explores renewal through color. Greens become vivid and luminous, trees appear in rhythmic repetition, and the landscape acquires a sense of awakening. The compositions remain structured and controlled, yet the palette introduces a subtle vitality.
Rather than naturalistic spring, these works present an idea of rebirth—ordered, serene, and almost timeless. Nature is not wild but composed, integrated into a harmonious visual system.
Mattino (Morning)
The Mattino series shifts toward softer tonalities and diffused light. Pale blues, gentle yellows, and delicate gradients dominate the compositions, evoking the stillness of early hours.
These works are perhaps among Salvo’s most contemplative. The absence of dramatic contrast allows space for silence, reinforcing the sense of a world just beginning to emerge. Time here is not ending, as in Fine del Giorno, but unfolding.
La Valle (The Valley)
La Valle introduces a more structured spatial dynamic. Valleys open into depth, guiding the viewer’s eye through layered compositions of hills, trees, and architecture. Despite this increased sense of perspective, the forms remain simplified and controlled.
These works reflect Salvo’s interest in constructing space intellectually rather than mimetically. The valley becomes a device—a compositional framework through which he can explore repetition, variation, and balance.
Gennaio (January)
In Gennaio, the palette cools dramatically. Blues, whites, and muted tones dominate, creating a restrained and almost austere atmosphere. Trees become sparse, forms more rigid, and the landscape feels suspended in stillness. This series embodies a form of visual silence. The reduction of color and detail heightens the structural clarity of the compositions, revealing the underlying architecture of Salvo’s pictorial language.
Travels
Salvo’s Travels series extends his visual vocabulary beyond Italy, incorporating references to historical and geographical sites—Egyptian temples, Mediterranean cities, and imagined foreign landscapes. Yet, even here, the places are not depicted realistically. Instead, they are absorbed into his system. Exoticism is filtered, reduced, and reconstructed through his established language of geometry and color. The result is a paradox: paintings that evoke travel while remaining entirely internal, almost dreamlike.
Estate and Gallery Representation
The most significant representation today is through Galleria Franco Noero in Turin, which has played a central role in reintroducing Salvo’s work to a new generation of collectors and curators. The gallery has organized important exhibitions and has been instrumental in placing works in major collections.
In parallel, the estate has gained strong international visibility through collaborations with David Zwirner, which has presented Salvo in a global context, notably in New York and London. This association is particularly important—it signals a clear repositioning of Salvo within the upper tier of the contemporary market.
Historically, Salvo was also closely associated with Tucci Russo Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea, one of the key galleries in Italy during his lifetime, especially during his conceptual and early painting phases. In short, the estate is not only well managed—it is strategically positioned, combining deep Italian roots with strong international exposure, which partly explains the sharp reassessment of his market in recent years.
Salvo’s work ultimately resists easy categorization. It is neither naïve nor purely conceptual, neither nostalgic nor fully contemporary. Instead, it exists in a suspended space—much like his landscapes—where time is slowed, structured, and reimagined. What he offers is not a view of the world, but a way of seeing it: simplified, ordered, and illuminated from within.
PART I: SUMMARY
Auction Market Overview
2025 AUCTION STATISTICS
Turnover: USD 5,320,975
-44.7% vs. 2024
# Lots sold: 64
Sell-Through rate: 86.5%
Highest Price Achieved at Auction:
Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 November 2023
HKD 8,694,000 / USD 1,116,170
Over the decades, Salvo’s work has been exhibited internationally, with significant recognition in Europe and increasing institutional attention in recent years, including presentations at major venues such as the Venice Biennale and renewed scholarly interest following his death in 2015. His market has followed this trajectory, with collectors increasingly drawn to the clarity, consistency, and quiet intellectual depth of his painted universe. Salvo’s market has experienced a significant re-evaluation in recent years, driven by renewed institutional interest and a broader reassessment of figurative painting emerging from conceptual contexts. His works, once seen as idiosyncratic, are now understood as prescient—anticipating the return to painting that would dominate contemporary practice in the decades that followed.
2025 Auction Highlights
64 lots sold at auction in 2025 for a total turnover of USD 5,320,975. With 10 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 86.5%. The highest price achieved in 2025 was for Primavera, a large painting dated 1998, that sold at Aste Boetto, in Genoa, on 14 April 2025 for EUR 662,500 (USD 752,505).
2025 Top 5 Lots
16 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 3,292,979, representing 61.9% of the total turnover for 2025.
2024 Auction Highlights
75 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 9,630,842. With 7 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 91.5%. The highest price was achieved at Sotheby’s in London on 6 March 2024, when an untitled painting dated 1988, sold for GBP 381,000 (USD 483,108).
2024 Top 3 Lots
30 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 7,127,182, representing 74% of the total turnover for 2024.
2023 Auction Highlights
51 lots sold at auction in 2023 for a total turnover of USD 8,230,611. With 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 98%. The highest price, and the new world auction record for the artist, was achieved at Christie’s in Hong-Kong on 28 November 2023, when Il Mattino, a painting dated 1994, sold for HKD 8,694,000 (USD 1,116,169). 1 lot sold for more than USD 1 million.
2023 Top 3 Lots
The top 3 lots generated a cumulative turnover of USD 2,455,420, representing 31.1% of the total turnover for 2023. 24 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 6,668,924, representing 81% of the total for 2023.
Top Lots
#1. Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 November 2023
Estimated: HKD 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
HKD 8,694,000 / USD 1,116,169
SALVO (1947 – 2015) (christies.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Oil on canvas
205×327 cm (80 3/4 x 128 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Il Mattino” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
USD 1 million
#2. Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out), 1991
Christie’s London: 13 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 693,000 / USD 844,074
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out), 1991
Oil on canvas
200×150 cm (78 3/4 x 59 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle” Salvo 91’ (on the reverse)
#3. Primavera, 1998
Aste Boetto: 14 April 2025
Estimated: EUR 350,000 – 600,000
EUR 530,000 (Hammer)
EUR 662,500 / USD 752,505
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 1998
Oil on canvas
150×200 cm (59 x 78 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Photo certificate by Archivio Salvo n. S1998-19
#4. Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning), 2007
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 26 September 2025
Estimated: HKD 800,000 – 1,500,000
HKD 5,080,000 / USD 652,955
SALVO (1947 – 2015), Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning), 2007
Oil on canvas
150×200 cm. (59 x 78 3/4 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under the no. S.2007-7
USD 500,000
#5. Prima primavera, 1996
Phillips New-York: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 495,300
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 305 November 2023 | Phillips
SALVO
Prima primavera, 1996
Oil on Masonite
70.2 x 110.2 cm (27 5/8 x 43 3/8 inches)
Signed and titled “Salvo PRIMA PRIMAVERA” on the reverse
#6. Senza titolo, 1988
Sotheby’s London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 381,000 / USD 483,108
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1988
Oil on canvas
198.9 x 148.6 cm (78 1/4 x 58 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated 88 (on the reverse)
Registered as no. S1988-17 in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#7. Maggio, 2009
Phillips New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 300,000 – 500,000
USD 482,600
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Evenin… Lot 28 May 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Maggio, 2009
Oil on burlap
180.7 x 130.2 cm (71 1/8 x 51 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed “Salvo “MAGGIO”” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2009-145
#8. San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Christie’s London: 9 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 378,000 / USD 479,304
SALVO (1947-2015)
San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Oil on canvas
100.6 x 140.3 cm (39 5/8 x 55 1/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “San Nicola ARCELLA”‘ (on the reverse)
#9. Mediterraneo, 2008
Phillips London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 368,300 / USD 467,004
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporary Art… Lot 4 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Mediterraneo, 2008
Oil on burlap
130.5 x 99.7 cm (51 3/8 x 39 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed ‘Salvo “mediterraneo”’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under number N.S2008-55
PART II: AUCTION RESULTS
2026 Auction Results
PREMILINARY AUCTION RESULTS
As of 15 June 2026
#1. La fine del giorno (The End of the Day), 2014
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 27 March 2026
Estimated: HKD 1,400,000 – 1,800,000
HKD 4,826,000 / USD 616,345
SALVO (1947-2015), La fine del giorno (The End of the Day) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
La fine del giorno (The End of the Day), 2014
Oil on canvas
100×150 cm (39-3/8 x 59 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo la “fine del giorno”’ (on the reverse)
Dated ‘2014’ (on the overlap)
USD 500,000
#2. Fine del Giorno, 2009
Sotheby’s Riyadh: 31 January 2026
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 317,500
Fine del Giorno | Origins II | 2026 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Fine del Giorno, 2009
Oil on canvas
70×90 cm (27 1/2 x 35 3/8 inches)
Signed Salvo, titled and illegibly inscribed (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S 2009-93
#3. 28 siciliani più un mistero, 2014
Sotheby’s Milan: 27 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 100,000 – 150,000
EUR 204,800 / USD 238,175
Salvo | 28 siciliani più un mistero | Modern and Contemporary Art |
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
28 siciliani più un mistero, 2014
Oil and collage on canvas
150×200 cm (59×79 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. 2014-61
#4. Una sera, 1988
Sotheby’s Milan: 27 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 60,000 – 80,000
EUR 192,000 / USD 223,290
Salvo | Una sera | Modern and Contemporary Art | 2026 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Una sera, 1988
Oil on canvas
60×50 cm (23-5/8 x 19-5/8 inches)
Signed, titled, dedicated and dated V 88 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S1988-69
#5. Ottobre, 1999
Sotheby’s New-York: 15 May 2026
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 204,800
Salvo | Ottobre | Contemporary Day Auction | 2026 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Ottobre, 1999
Oil on canvas
60.3 x 50.2 cm (23-3/4 x 19-3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 99 (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. 1999-57
#6. Una sera, 1990
Il Ponte Casa d’Aste: 26 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 50,000
EUR 128,000 / USD 148,735
SALVO ( Leonforte 1947 – Torino 2015 )
“Una sera”, 1990
Oil on canvas
80×70 cm (31-1/2 x 27-1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 90 on the reverse
#7. Paesaggio montano, 1994
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 March 2026
Estimated: HKD 300,000 – 500,000
HKD 825,500 / USD 105,430
SALVO (1947-2015), Paesaggio montano | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Paesaggio montano, 1994
Oil on board
61×30 cm (24 x 11-3/4 inches)
Signed ‘Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under the no. S.1994-5
USD 100,000
#8. San Giorgio e il drago (da Raffaello), 1977
Sotheby’s Milan: 27 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 83,200 / USD 96,760
Salvo | San Giorgio e il drago | Modern and Contemporary Art | 2026 |
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
San Giorgio e il drago (da Raffaello), 1977
Oil on board
48.8 x 45.8 cm (19-1/8 x 18 inches)
Signed and dated 1977 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. 1977-26
#9. Primavera, 1988
Christie’s New-York: 21 May 2026
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 88,900
SALVO (1947-2015), Primavera | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 1988
Oil on canvas
40.6 x 30.5 cm (15-7/8 x 12 inches)
Signed, titled and dated twice ‘SALVO – I.88 PRIMAVERA – 1988’ (on the stretcher)
#10. Periferia, 1983
Pandolfini Casa d’Aste: 13 May 2025
Estimated: USD 35,000 – 60,000
EUR 69,300 / USD 81,165
Salvatore Salvo : SALVO – Auction MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART – Pandolfini Casa d’Aste
SALVO (Leonforte 1947 – Torino 2015)
Periferia, 1983
Oil on canvas
80×40 cm (31-1/2 x 15-3/4 inches)
Signed and dated on the side
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S1983-49
#11. Strada Città, 1999
Christie’s Paris: 9 June 2026
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 50,000
EUR 69,850 / USD 81,045
Salvo (1947-2015), Strada Città | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Strada Città, 1999
Oil on canvas
60.4 x 50.4 cm (23-3/4 x 19-7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ”’STRADA CITTÀ” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under No. S1999-6
#12. Ottobre, 2005
Aste Bolaffi: 12 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 38,000 – 45,000
EUR 58,000 / USD 68,050
SALVO (1947-2015)
Ottobre, 2005
Oil on canvas
60×50 cm (23-5/8 x 19-5/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse.
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#13. Al crepuscolo, dopo la pioggia, 1983
Aste Boetto: 27 April 2026
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 40,000 (Hammer)
EUR 50,000 / USD 58,650
SALVO (1947-2015)
Al crepuscolo, dopo la pioggia, 1983
(At dusk, after the rain)
Oil on panel
50×37 cm (19-5/8 x 14-1/2 inches)
Signed, dated and titled on the back
Photo certificate by Archivio Salvo n. S1983-1
#14. Il Tram, 2007
Phillips New-York: 21 May 2026
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 54,180
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art: Afternoon Session
SALVO
Il Tram, 2007
Oil on panel
40×60 cm (15-3/4 x 23-5/8 inches)
Signed, titled and illegibly inscribed “”IL TRAM” Salvo” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2007-19
#15. Untitled, 1981
Finarte: 9 June 2026
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 50,000
EUR 44,450 / USD 51,370
Salvo – Untitled 1981 | Modern and Contemporary Art | Finarte, auction house
SALVO
Untitled, 1981
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm (15-3/4 x 19-3/4 inches)
Signed and dated twice on the reverse: Salvo 81
Registered with Archivio Salvo
USD 50,000
#16. Bangkok, 2012
Phillips New-York: 21 May 2026
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 49,020
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art: Afternoon Session
SALVO
Bangkok, 2012
Oil on canvas
50×40 cm (19-3/4 x 15-3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated “Salvo “BANGKOK” 2012″ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2012-1
#17. Inverno, 1986
Phillips New-York: 10 March 2026
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 40,000
USD 45,150
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art: Online Auction, New York
SALVO
Inverno, 1986
Oil on panel
44.5 x 33 cm (17-1/2 x 13 inches)
Signed and dated “Salvo 1986” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S1986-25
#18. Untitled, 1985
Aste Boetto: 27 April 2026
Estimated: EUR 25,000 – 40,000
EUR 25,000 (Hammer)
EUR 31,250 / USD 36,655
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1985
Oil on canvas
60×30 cm (23-5/8 x 11-7/8 inches)
Signed and dated on the back
Authenticated on the photo of the Salvo Archive N. S1985-94
#19. Untitled, 1982
Aste Boetto: 27 April 2026
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 35,000
EUR 20,000 (Hammer)
EUR 25,000 / USD 29,325
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1982
Oil on canvas
35×25 cm (13-7/8 x 9-7/8 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse on the left edge
Photo certificate by Archivio Salvo n.S1982-58
Lofoten, 2001
LA Modern: 25 February 2026
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 21,590
SALVO (1947–2015)
Lofoten, 2001
Oil on canvas
36×26 cm (14 x 10-1/4 inches)
Signed and titled to verso ‘Lofoten Salvo’
La caffettiera, 2001
Rago: 28 January 2026
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 21,590
112: SALVO, La caffettiera < Post War & Contemporary Art, 28 January 2026 < Auctions | Rago Auctions
SALVO (1947–2015)
La caffettiera, 2001
Oil on Masonite
39×30 cm (15-1/2 x 11-3/4 inches)
MORE COMING SOON
2025 Auction Results
64 lots sold at auction in 2025 for a total turnover of USD 5,320,976. With 10 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 86.5%. The highest price achieved in 2025 was for Primavera, a large painting dated 1998, that sold at Aste Boetto, in Genoa, on 14 April 2025 for EUR 662,500 (USD 752,505).
2025 Top 5 Lots
16 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 3,292,979, representing 61.9% of the total turnover for 2025.
XXXXXXXXXX
#1. Primavera, 1998
Aste Boetto: 14 April 2025
Estimated: EUR 350,000 – 600,000
EUR 530,000 (Hammer)
EUR 662,500 / USD 752,505
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 1998
Oil on canvas
150×200 cm (59 x 78 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Photo certificate by Archivio Salvo n. S1998-19
#2. Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning), 2007
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 26 September 2025
Estimated: HKD 800,000 – 1,500,000
HKD 5,080,000 / USD 652,955
SALVO (1947 – 2015), Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Mattino di primavera (Spring Morning), 2007
Oil on canvas
150×200 cm. (59 x 78 3/4 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under the no. S.2007-7
USD 500,000
#3. Il Mattino, 2009
Sotheby’s Diriyah: 8 February 2025
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 204,000
Il Mattino | Origins | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Mattino, 2009
Oil on canvas
80×60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed Salvo, titled and illegibly inscribed (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2009-128
#4. Primavera, 2010
Phillips New-York: 21 November 2025
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 180,600
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session
SALVO
Primavera, 2010
Oil on canvas
69.9 x 80 cm (27 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed “Salvo “PRIMAVERA”” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2010-55
#5. Untitled, 1984
Christie’s London: 16 October 2025
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 120,650 / USD 161,940
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1984
Oil on canvas
80×60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1984-100
#6. Senza titolo, 1986
Sotheby’s Milan: 28 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 100,000 – 150,000
EUR 139,700 / USD 158,385
Senza titolo | Modern and Contemporary Art | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1986
Acrylic on canvas
218.5 x 122.6 cm (86 x 48 3/8 inches)
Signed and dated 86 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S1986-120
#7. San Giorgio e il drago (da Raffaello), 1975
Estimated: EUR 25,000 – 35,000
EUR 111,800 / USD 130,000
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
San Giorgio e il drago (da Raffaello), 1975
Oil on wood
50×45 cm (19.7 x 17.7 inches)
Signed, titled and dated on the reverse with dedication
Registered in the Archivio Salvo
“I was interested in saints who were somewhat like Hercules and the Hydra, universal subjects; the dragon appears in Greek mythology, in the Catholic religion, but also in Chinese art. What interested me was the symbolic meaning of the figure of a man fighting the dragon.”
#8. Capriccio, 1998
Phillips Hong-Kong: 27 May 2025
Estimated: HKD 750,000 – 1,200,000
HKD 1,016,000 / USD 129,645
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale
Registered under no. S1998/08-1
#9. Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle, 1991
Sotheby’s New-York: 26 February 2025
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 127,000
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle | Contemporary Curated | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle, 1991
Oil on canvas
90.8 x 67.9 cm (35 3/4 x 26 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 91 (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1991-7
#10. La Valle, 2010
Aste Boetto: 28 October 2025
Estimated: EUR 80,000 – 130,000
EUR 85,000 (Hammer)
EUR 106,250 / USD 123,870
SALVO (1947-2015)
La Valle, 2010
Oil on canvas
70×80 cm (27 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Photo certificate by Archivio Salvo n.S2010-54
#11. Strada con quattro lampioni, 1980
Christie’s London: 6 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 45,000 – 65,000
GBP 94,500 / USD 121,025
SALVO (1947-2015), Strada con quattro lampioni (Street with Four Street Lamps) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Strada con quattro lampioni (Street with Four Street Lamps), 1980
Oil on panel
91.1 x 106.3 cm (35 7/8 x 41 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo NOV. 80’ (lower edge)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the no. S1980-108
#12. La Valle, 2006
Dorotheum Vienna: 19 November 2025
Estimated: EUR 35,000 – 50,000
EUR 104,000 / USD 120,000
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2025/11/19 – Realized price: EUR 104,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
La Valle, 2006
Oil on wood
73.5 x 34.8 cm (29 x 13 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse (faded)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#13. Gennaio, 2007
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 75,000
EUR 104,000 / USD 120,000
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2025/05/21 – Realized price: EUR 104,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Gennaio, 2007
Oil on canvas
50×70 cm (19.7 x 27.6 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#14. Una domenica di gennaio a Sant’ Anna, 2009
Christie’s Shanghai: 3 April 2025
Estimated: CNY 350,000 – 550,000
CNY 756,000 / USD 104,025
SALVO (1947-2015), Una domenica di gennaio a Sant’ Anna | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Una domenica di gennaio a Sant’ Anna, 2009
Oil on canvas
70.3 x 50.5 cm (27 5/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”una domenica di gennaio a Sant’ Anna” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#15. Untitled, 1980-1987
Capitolium Art Casa d’Aste: 17 December 2025
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 88,200 / USD 103,615
UNTITLED | Salvo (salvatore Mangione)
SALVO
Untitled, 1980-1987
Oil on canvas
80×70 cm (31 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#16. Il villaggio, 2004
Martini Studio d’Arte: 12 June 2025
Estimated: EUR 60,000 – 80,000
EUR 72,000 (Hammer)
EUR 90,000 / USD 103,415
Salvo work of art at auction: Il villaggio ‑ Martini Studio d’Arte
SALVO
Il villaggio, 2004
Oil on canvas
80×100 cm (31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed on the back
Archival certificate by Archivio Salvo, Turin n. S2004-16
USD 100,000
#17. Lungo il Reno, 1989
Farsetti Arte: 30 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 70,000 – 110,000
EUR 70,000 (Hammer)
EUR 87,500 / USD 99,280
Salvo : Lungo il Reno (1989) – Olio su cartone – Auction Contemporary Art – Casa d’aste Farsettiarte
SALVO (Leonforte (En), 1947 – Torino, 2015)
Lungo il Reno, 1989
Oil on cardboard
62.5 x 52 cm (24.6 x 20.5 inches)
Titled, signed and dated on the reverse
Certificato su foto Archivio Salvo, con n. S1989-11
#18. 31 Siciliani, 1976
Christie’s Paris: 24 October 2025
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 76,200 / USD 88,585
Salvo (1947-2015), 31 Siciliani | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
31 Siciliani, 1976
Oil and enamel on panel
48.8 x 70 cm (19 1/4 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ”’31 siciliani” 1976 Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered with l’Archivio Salvo, Turin under No. S1976-22
#19. Capriccio, 2006
Van Ham Cologne: 3 December 2025
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 66,000 / USD 76,950
SALVO (1947-2015)
Capriccio, 2006
Oil on wood
70×50 cm (27.5 x 19.7 inches)
Signed, titled and dated on the reverse
#20. Primavera, 2008
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 29 March 2025
Estimated: HKD 300,000 – 500,000
HKD 567,000 / USD 72,855
SALVO (1947-2015), Primavera | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 2008
Oil on canvas
50×40 cm (19 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘salvo “PRIMAVERA”‘ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under the no. S2008-15
#21. Lunch time, 2007
Finarte: 2 July 2025
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 60,630 / USD 71,480
Salvo – Lunchtime 2007 | Modern & Contemporary Art | Finarte, auction house
SALVO
Lunch time, 2007
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm (15.7 x 19.7 inches)
Signed on the reverse: Salvo, “Lunchtime”
Work registered at the Salvo Archive
#22. Senza titolo, 1997
Rago: 21 May 2025
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 69,850
117: SALVO, Senza titolo < Post War & Contemporary Art, 21 May 2025 < Auctions | Rago Auctions
SALVO (1947–2015)
Senza titolo, 1997
Oil on panel
36×43 cm (14 1/8 x 16 3/4 inches)
Signed to verso ‘Salvo’
Reviewed by the Archivio Salvo in Turin, no. S11997-75
#23. 22 siciliani in verde e blu, 1975
Sotheby’s Milan: 28 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 30,000
EUR 58,420 / USD 66,235
22 siciliani in verde e blu | Modern and Contemporary Art | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
22 siciliani in verde e blu, 1975
Oil on geographic paper laid down on board
30 x 39 x 1.5 cm (11 7/8 x 15 7/8 x 5/8 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 1975 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S1975-30
#24. Ottomania, 1991
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 52,000 / USD 61,000
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2025/05/21 – Realized price: EUR 52,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily 1947–2015 Turin)
Ottomania, 1991
Oil on canvas
70×58 cm (27.5 x 22.8 inches)
Signed, dated and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#25. Paesaggio, 1980
Sotheby’s Milan: 28 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 50,800 / USD 57,595
Paesaggio | Modern and Contemporary Art | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Paesaggio, 1980
Oil on canvas
30×60 cm (11 7/8 x 23 3/4 inches)
Signed and dated 1980 on the reverse; signed twice on the overlap
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S1980-109
XXXXXXXXXX
#37. Primavera, 1988
Christie’s Paris: 27 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 30,000
EUR 32,760 / USD 37,310
Salvo (1947-2015), Primavera | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 1988
Oil on canvas
18×15 cm (7 1/8 x 5 7/8 inches)
Signed, titled, dated and inscribed ‘-88 ’’PRIMAVERA’’ Salvo’ (on the overlap)
Registered by Archivio Salvo, Turin under No. S1988-44
XXXXXXXXXX
#54. Sans titre, 1992
Christie’s Paris: 27 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 18,000
EUR 18,900 / USD 21,525
Salvo (1947-2015), Sans titre | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Sans titre, 1992
Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard
35×25 cm (13 3/4 x 9 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 92’ (on the reverse)
Registered with Archivio Salvo, Turin, under No. S1992-91
XXXXXXXXXX
#60. Il Ponte (The Bridge), 1981
Christie’s London: 3 July 2025
Estimated: GBP 6,000 – 8,000
GBP 11,970 / USD 16,340
WORK ON PAPER
SALVO (1947-2015), Il Ponte (The Bridge) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il Ponte (The Bridge), 1981
Oil on paper
24.5 x 34.9 cm (9 5/8 x 13 3/4 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 1-81’ (lower right)
egistered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1981-73
#63. Sans titre, 1981
Christie’s Paris: 27 May 2025
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 18,000
EUR 12,600 / USD 14,350
Salvo (1947-2015), Sans titre | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Sans titre, 1981
Oil on canvas
24×30 cm (9 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches)
Signed and dated twice ‘Salvo 81’ (on the overlap)
Registered with Archivio Salvo, Turin, under No. S1981-37
#64. Untitled, 1981
Christie’s London: 3 July 2025
Estimated: GBP 8,000 – 12,000
GBP 10,080 / USD 13,760
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1981
Oil on panel
17 x 43.5 cm (63/4 x 17 1/8 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 81’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the no. S1981-39
2024 Auction Results
75 lots sold at auction in 2024 for a total turnover of USD 9,630,842. With 7 lots failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 91.5%. The highest price was achieved at Sotheby’s in London on 6 March 2024, when an untitled painting dated 1988, sold for GBP 381,000 (USD 483,108).
2024 Top 3 Lots
30 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 7,127,182, representing 74% of the total turnover for 2024.
XXXXXXXXXX
#1. Senza titolo, 1988
Sotheby’s London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 381,000 / USD 483,108
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1988
Oil on canvas
198.9 x 148.6 cm (78 1/4 x 58 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated 88 (on the reverse)
Registered as no. S1988-17 in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#2. Maggio, 2009
Phillips New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 300,000 – 500,000
USD 482,600
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Evenin… Lot 28 May 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Maggio, 2009
Oil on burlap
180.7 x 130.2 cm (71 1/8 x 51 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed “Salvo “MAGGIO”” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2009-145
#3. San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Christie’s London: 9 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 378,000 / USD 479,304
SALVO (1947-2015)
San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Oil on canvas
100.6 x 140.3 cm (39 5/8 x 55 1/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “San Nicola ARCELLA”‘ (on the reverse)
#4. Mediterraneo, 2008
Phillips London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 368,300 / USD 467,004
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporary Art… Lot 4 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Mediterraneo, 2008
Oil on burlap
130.5 x 99.7 cm (51 3/8 x 39 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed ‘Salvo “mediterraneo”’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under number N.S2008-55
#5. Una sera (An Evening), 2004
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 May 2024
Estimated: HKD 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
HKD 3,276,000 / USD 419,626
SALVO (1947-2015), Una sera (An Evening) | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Una sera (An Evening), 2004
Oil on canvas
189×139 cm (74 3/8 x 54 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo Una sera’ (on the reverse)
#6. Senza Titolo, 1996
Sotheby’s New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 406,400
Senza Titolo | Contemporary Day Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza Titolo, 1996
Oil on canvas
100×120 cm (39 x 47 1/4 inches)
Signed (on the reverse)
Registered as no. S1996-13 in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#7. Primavera (Spring), 2006
Christie’s London: 10 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 277,200 / USD 362,200
SALVO (1947-2015), Primavera (Spring) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera (Spring), 2006
Oil on canvas
90×110 cm (35 5/8 x 43 2/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”PRIMAVERA” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#8. Primavera, 2005
Christie’s New-York: 13 March 2024
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 327,600
SALVO (1947-2015), Primavera | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 2005
Oil on canvas
79.4 x 150 cm (31 1/4 x 59 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”PRIMAVERA” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
USD 300,000
#9. Una sera, 1988
Sotheby’s Milan: 12 April 2024
Estimated: EUR 140,000 – 200,000
EUR 279,400 / USD 299,602
Una sera | Modern & Contemporary Art | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Una sera, 1988
Oil on canvas
150 x 99.8 cm (59 1/8 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed, titled and dated Feb ’88 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1988-72
#10. La Valle (The Valley), 2000
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 27 September 2024
Estimated: HKD 1,000,000 – 1,500,000
HKD 2,142,000 / USD 275,339
SALVO (1947-2015), La Valle (The Valley) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
La Valle (The Valley), 2000
Oil on canvas
100×80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘SALVO “LA VALLE” 2000’ (on the reverse)
#11. La Valle, 2004
Phillips London: 27 June 2024
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 215,900 / USD 272,490
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art: Even… Lot 30 June 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
La Valle, 2004
Oil on canvas
90×120 cm (35 3/8 x 47 1/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “LA VALLE”‘ on the reverse
#12. Al mattino, 2004
Phillips New-York: 15 May 2024
Estimated: USD 100,000 – 150,000
USD 254,000
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Day S… Lot 306 May 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Al mattino, 2004
Oil on canvas
100×130 cm (39 3/8 x 51 1/8 inches)
Signed and titled “”Al mattino” Salvo” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2004-65
#13. Il Villaggio (The Village), 1993
Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 5 April 2024
Estimated: HKD 1,000,000 – 2,000,000
HKD 1,905,000 / USD 243,297
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Villaggio (The Village), 1993
Oil on canvas
130.7 x 170.8 cm (51 1/2 x 67 1/4 inches)
Signed, dated 93, and inscribed on the reverse
#14. Untitled, 1985
Christie’s London: 7 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 176,400 / USD 223,675
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1985
Oil on jute
202×115 cm (79 1/2 x 45 1/4 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 85’ (lower right)
USD 200,000
#15. La Strada, 2005
Dorotheum Vienna: 14 March 2024
Estimated: EUR 130,000 – 180,000
EUR 169,000 / USD 183,295
Salvo * – Modern and Contemporary Art 2024/03/14 – Realized price: EUR 169,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947-2015 Turin)
La Strada, 2005
Oil on canvas
100×140 cm (39 3/8 x 55 1/8 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#16. Primavera, 2010
Phillips London: 8 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 139,700 / USD 177,140
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 117 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Primavera, 2010
Oil on canvas
70.1 x 80.3 cm (27 5/8 x 31 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “PRIMAVERA”‘ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2010-55
#17. La Valle (The Valley), 2007
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 29 May 2024
Estimated: HKD 500,000 – 800,000
HKD 1,386,000 / USD 177,442
SALVO (1947-2015), La Valle (The Valley) | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
La Valle (The Valley), 2007
Oil on canvas
80.5 x 100.7 cm (31 3/4 x 39 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “LA VALLE”’ (on the reverse)
#18. Tenerife, 1997
Christie’s New-York: 17 May 2024
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 163,800
SALVO (1947-2015), Tenerife | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Tenerife, 1997
Oil on canvas
Diameter: 50 cm (19 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”TENERIFE” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#19. Aprile, 2007
Dorotheum Vienna: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 55,000 – 75,000
EUR 143,000 / USD 153,640
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/05/23 – Realized price: EUR 143,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Aprile, 2007
Oil on canvas
60×50 cm (23 5/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#20. Agosto, 2009
Phillips Hong-Kong: 24 March 2024
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 1,079,500 / USD 137,925
Salvo – New Now Hong Kong Lot 2 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Agosto, 2009
Oil on canvas
70.8 x 50.6 cm (27 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Agosto” Salvo’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo under the number S2009-81
#21. Senza titolo, 1989
Christie’s Milan: 4 June 2024
Estimated: EUR 100,000 – 150,000
EUR 126,000 / USD 137,430
Salvo (1947-2015), Senza titolo | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Senza titolo, 1989
Oil on canvas
200×150 cm (78 7/8 x 55 1/8 inches)
Signed ‘Salvo’ (on reverse)
#22. La Valle, 2001
Dorotheum Vienna: 20 November 2024
Estimated: EUR 60,000 – 80,000
EUR 119,600 / USD 129,385
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/11/20 – Realized price: EUR 119,600 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
La Valle, 2001
Oil on canvas
80×60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Titled and signed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo
#23. Bosnia Erzegovina (Bosnia Herzegovina), 2003
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 29 May 2024
Estimated: HKD 600,000 – 1,200,000
HKD 945,000 / USD 120,972
SALVO (1947-2015), Bosnia Erzegovina (Bosnia Herzegovina) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Bosnia Erzegovina (Bosnia Herzegovina), 2003
Oil on canvas
180×130 cm (70 7/8 x 51 3/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “BOSNIA ERZEGOVINA”’ (on the reverse)
#24. Una sera, 2007
Dorotheum Vienna: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 55,000 – 75,000
EUR 110,500 / USD 118,720
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/05/23 – Realized price: EUR 110,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Una sera, 2007
Oil on canvas
60×50 cm (23 5/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#25. Inverno, 2000
Christie’s Milan: 4 June 2024
Estimated: EUR 70,000 – 100,000
EUR 107,100 / USD 116,815
Salvo (1947-2015), Inverno | Christie’s
SALVO(1947-2015)
Inverno, 2000
Oil on canvas
80.5 x 100.8 cm
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “INVERNO”‘ (on reverse)
#26. Primavera, 2012
Seoul Auction: 25 June 2024
Estimated: KRW 125,000,000 – 180,000,000
KRW 147,500,000 / USD 106,345
SALVO(1947-2015)
Primavera, 2012
Oil on canvas
30×40 cm (11 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
#27. Una sera, 2011
Sotheby’s Milan: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 96,000 / USD 103,945
Una sera | Contemporary Discoveries | 2024 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Una sera, 2011
Oil on canvas
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2011-46
#28. Punta del Hidalgo, 1996
Phillips London: 11 October 2024
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 78,740 / USD 102,845
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, London Friday, October 11, 2024 at GMT+1 | Phillips
SALVO
Punta del Hidalgo, 1996
Oil on canvas
59.7 x 79.8 cm (23 1/2 x 31 3/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “PUNTA DEL HIDALGO”‘ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S1996-57
#29. Untitled, 1988
Dorotheum Vienna: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 55,000 – 75,000
EUR 93,600 / USD 100,650
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/05/23 – Realized price: EUR 93,600 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1988
Oil on canvas
70×60 cm (27 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed, dated and dedicated “Al caro Peppo (Giuseppe Pontiggia)” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#30. November, 1996
K Auction Seoul: 24 April 2024
Estimated: KRW 98,000,000 – 150,000,000
KRW 138,000,000 / USD 100,600
SALVO
November, 1996
Oil on canvas
30×30 cm (11 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
USD 100,000
#31. Senza titulo, 1987
Phillips London: 4 December 2024
Estimated: GBP 60,000 – 80,000
GBP 76,200 / USD 96,575
Salvo – New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art, London Wednesday, December 4, 2024 at GMT | Phillips
Senza titulo, 1987
Oil on canvas
#32. Prima Primavera, 1996
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 88,200 / USD 94,480
Prima Primavera, 1996
Oil on canvas
50.2 x 60.1 cm (19 3/4 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo ”Prima Primavera”’ (on the reverse)
#33. Novembre, 2005
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 90,000 / USD 94,425
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Novembre, 2005
Oil on board
50×70 cm (19 5/8 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. S2005 – 86
#34. Untitled, 1991
Dorotheum Vienna: 20 November 2024
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 83,200 / USD 90,005
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/11/20 – Realized price: EUR 83,200 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sizilien, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1991
Oil on canvas
50×40 cm (19 7/8 x 15 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#35. Pontremoli, 1993
Phillips Hong-Kong: 1 June 2024
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 698,500 / USD 89,340
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Hong Kong Saturday, June 1, 2024 at GMT+8 | Phillips
Pontremoli, 1993
Oil on canvas
#36. Untitled, 1990
Christie’s London: 12 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 50,000 – 70,000
GBP 63,000 / USD 79,884
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1990
Oil on canvas
90×70 cm (353/8 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 90’ (on the reverse)
#37. Untitled, 2004
Phillips London: 27 June 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 63,500 / USD 80,145
Untitled, 2004
Oil on cardboard laid down on board
#38. Dicembre, 1997
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 72,800 / USD 78,755
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Dicembre, 1997
Oil on canvas
60×40 cm (23 5/8 x 15 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo
#39. La Valle, 1998
K Auction: 25 September 2024
Estimated: KRW 90,000,000 – 200,000,000
KRW 104,850,000 / USD 78,240
REPEAT SALE
Dorotheum Vienna: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 45,000 – 65,000
EUR 58,500 / USD 62,850
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/05/23 – Realized price: EUR 58,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO
La Valle, 1998
Oil on canvas
Diameter: 50 cm (19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
#40. Untitled, 1993
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 November 2024
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 71,500 / USD 77,805
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2024/11/21 – Realized price: EUR 71,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1993
Oil on canvas
60×70 cm (23 5/8 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#41. La Valle, 2006
Sotheby’s London: 7 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 40,000 – 60,000
GBP 57,150 / USD 72,466
La Valle | Modern & Contemporary Day Auction | 2024 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
La Valle, 2006
Oil on canvas
45 x 54.7 cm (17 3/4 x 21 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and variously inscribed (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2007-66
#42. San Nicola Arcella, 2003
Phillips London: 8 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 55,880 / USD 70,856
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporary A… Lot 113 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
San Nicola Arcella, 2003
Oil on Masonite
28.5 x 62 cm (11 1/4 x 24 3/8 inches)
Signed and partially titled ‘S.N.A. Salvo’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2003-81
#43. Una Sera, 1989
Phillips London: 19 April 2024
Estimated: GBP 40,000 – 60,000
GBP 57,150 / USD 71,065
Salvo – New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art, London Friday, April 19, 2024 at GMT+1 | Phillips
Una Sera, 1989
Oil on panel
#44. Senza titolo, 1992
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 69,850
Senza titolo, 1992
Oil on canvas
#45. Untitled, 1992
Estimated: KRW 70,000,000 – 150,000,000
KRW 92,000,000 / USD 69,185
Untitled, 1992
Oil on canvas
#46. Un quadro coi fiocchi, 1990
EUR 63,500 / USD 68,090
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Un quadro coi fiocchi, 1990
Oil on canvas
80.2 x 60.3 cm (31 5/8 x 23 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 90 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1990-66
#47. Clavesana, 2007
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 63,500 / USD 68,090
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Clavesana, 2007
Oil on canvas
50×50 cm (19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2007-85
#48. La Valle, 1998
Dorotheum Vienna: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 45,000 – 65,000
EUR 58,500 / USD 62,850
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2024/05/23 – Realized price: EUR 58,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
La Valle, 1998
Oil on canvas
Diameter: 50 cm (19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#49. Tozeur, 1998
Christie’s Paris: 10 December 2024
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 56,700 / USD 59,835
SALVO (1947-2015)
Tozeur, 1998
Oil on canvas
80×60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘‘’TOZEUR’’ Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#50. Untitled, 2003
Bonhams London: 21 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 44,800 / USD 57,315
Bonhams : SALVO (1947-2015) Untitled 2003
Oil on canvas
70×50 cm (27 9/16 x 19 11/16 inches)
#51. Senza Titolo, 1997
Estimated: USD 50,000 – 70,000
USD 57,150
SALVO (Italian, 1947-2015)
35.6 x 41.9 cm (14 x 16 1/2 inches)
#52. Paesaggio (Landscape), 1986
Estimated: GBP 25,000 – 35,000
GBP 44,100 / USD 55,920
Paesaggio (Landscape), 1986
Oil on canvas
70.1 x 50 cm (27 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 1-86’ (on the reverse)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 86-1’ (on the overlap)
#53. Ottomania, 1990
Estimated: EUR 35,000 – 50,000
EUR 52,920 / USD 56,385
Ottomania, 1990
Oil on canvas
67.5 x 49.5 cm (26 5/8 x 19 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”OTTOMANIA” Salvo 90’ (on the reverse)
#54. Una sera, 1995
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 53,340 / USD 56,340
Una sera, 1995
Oil on canvas
Signed, dated and titled on the reverse of the canvas
#55. Primavera, 2009
Estimated: EUR 28,000 – 36,000
EUR 52,000 / USD 55,865
Primavera, 2009
Oil on canvas
30×40 cm (11 7/8 x 15 7/8 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archvio Salvo, Turin
#56. The Valley, 2001
Estimated: KRW 60,000,000 – 120,000,000
KRW 74,340,000 / USD 53,895
The Valley, 2001
Oil on masonite
30×40 cm (11 7/8 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
#57. Sassonia Cistercense, 1992
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 48,000 / USD 51,900
Sassonia Cistercense, 1992
Oil on canvas
100×80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 92 (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the no. S1992-39
#58. Senza Titolo, 1991
Estimated: GBP 35,000 – 45,000
GBP 38,100 / USD 48,290
Senza Titolo, 1991
Oil on canvas
#59. Germania, 1999
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 35,560 / USD 46,445
Germania, 1999
Oil on panel
Diameter: 49.8 cm (19 5/8 inches)
#60. Febbraio, 2008
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 44,200 / USD 47,485
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Febbraio, 2008
Oil on canvas
35×50 cm (13 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#61. Case con Lampione, 1987
Christie’s London: 1 July 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 35,280 / USD 44,715
SALVO (1947-2015), Case con Lampione (Houses with Lamppost) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Case con Lampione (Houses with Lamppost), 1987
Oil on canvas
100×80 cm (393/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Titled, signed and dated ‘Salvo “case con lampione” 87’ (on the overlap)
Titled, signed and dated ‘Salvo “case con lampione” 87’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1987-34
#62. La Valle, 2001
Phillips London: 27 June 2024
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 33,020 / USD 41,825
La Valle, 2001
Oil on masonite
#63. Prefazione all’opera acclusa, 1971
Sotheby’s Milan: 23 May 2024
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 50,000
EUR 36,000 / USD 38,680
Prefazione all’opera acclusa | Contemporary Discoveries | 2024 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Prefazione all’opera acclusa, 1971
Engraved marble and gold varnish, variant of 3 unique versions
50x60x2 cm (13 3/4 x 23 5/8 x 3/4 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1971-52
#64. Il Porto, 1986
Sotheby’s Paris: 5 July 2024
Estimated: EUR 24,000 – 34,000
EUR 33,600 / USD 36,115
Il Porto | Modern & Contemporary Discoveries | 2024 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Porto, 1986
Oil on canvas
60×80 cm (23 5/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 86 (on the overlap)
#65. Ritorno a casa, 2005
Sotheby’s New-York: 1 March 2024
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 35,560
Ritorno a casa | Contemporary Curated | 2024 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Ritorno a casa, 2005
Oil on canvas
30×40 cm (11 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2005-71
#66. Una sera, 1991
Sotheby’s New-York: 1 March 2024
Estimated: USD 18,000 – 25,000
USD 35,560
Una sera | Contemporary Curated | 2024 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Una sera, 1991
Oil on panel
76.5 x 13.7 cm (30 1/8 x 5 5/8 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 91 (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1991-19
#67. La Strada, 2004
Phillips London: 5 December 2024
Estimated: GBP 20,000 – 30,000
GBP 25,400 / USD 33,225
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art: … Lot 11 November 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
La Strada, 2004
Oil on cardboard
50.4 x 71.8 cm (19 7/8 x 28 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”LA STRADA” Salvo 04’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2004-55
#68. Sant’Anna, 2012
Christie’s Paris: 30 April 2024
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 18,000
EUR 30,240 / USD 32,165
Salvo (1947-2015), Sant’Anna | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Sant’Anna, 2012
Oil on cardboard
32.4 x 24.7 cm (12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ”’Sant’ANNA” Salvo 2012′ (on the reverse)
2023 Auction Results
51 lots sold at auction in 2023 for a total turnover of USD 8,230,611. With 1 lot failing to sell, the sell-through rate is 98%. The highest price, and the new world auction record for the artist, was achieved at Christie’s in Hong-Kong on 28 November 2023, when Il Mattino, a painting dated 1994, sold for HKD 8,694,000 (USD 1,116,169). 1 lot sold for more than USD 1 million.
2023 Top 3 Lots
The top 3 lots generated a cumulative turnover of USD 2,455,420, representing 31.1% of the total turnover for 2023. 24 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 6,668,924, representing 81% of the total for 2023. 24 lots sold for more than USD 100,000, generating a cumulative turnover of USD 6,681,794, representing 84.6% of the total turnover for 2023.
XXXXXXXXXX
#1. Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 November 2023
Estimated: HKD 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
HKD 8,694,000 / USD 1,116,169
SALVO (1947 – 2015) (christies.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Oil on canvas
205×327 cm (80 3/4 x 128 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Il Mattino” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#2. Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out), 1991
Christie’s London: 13 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 693,000 / USD 844,074
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out), 1991
Oil on canvas
200×150 cm (78 3/4 x 59 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle” Salvo 91’ (on the reverse)
#3. Prima primavera, 1996
Phillips New-York: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 495,300
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 305 November 2023 | Phillips
SALVO
Prima primavera, 1996
Oil on Masonite
70.2 x 110.2 cm (27 5/8 x 43 3/8 inches)
Signed and titled “Salvo PRIMA PRIMAVERA” on the reverse
#4. La Valle, 2006
Dorotheum Vienna: 29 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 80,000 – 120,000
EUR 390,000 / USD 416,130
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2023/11/29 – Realized price: EUR 390,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
La Valle, 2006
Oil on canvas
90×110 cm (35 3/9 x 43 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled, with inscription on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#5. Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso, 2009
Phillips New-York: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 406,400
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 303 November 2023 | Phillips
SALVO
Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso, 2009
Oil on canvas
80×100 cm (31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed, indistinctly inscribed and partially titled
“”SE ELENA MI CHIEDE UN QUADRO ROSSO TRA ZERO E TUTTO QUESTO È QUEL CHE POSSO” Salvo”
On the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2009-95
#6. La Valle, 2006
Christie’s New-York: 10 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 403,200
SALVO (1947-2015), La Valle | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
La Valle, 2006
Oil on canvas
80×100 cm (31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed, inscribed indistinctly and titled ‘Salvo “La Valle”‘ (on the reverse)
#7. Il villaggio, 2014
Sotheby’s Milan: 22 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 254,000 / USD 276,860
Il villaggio | Contemporary Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il villaggio, 2014
Oil on canvas
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the no. S2014-56
#8. Untitled, 2006
Christie’s London: 14 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 60,000 – 90,000
GBP 201,600 / USD 245,549
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 2006
Oil on canvas
70.5 x 100 cm (27 3/4 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed ‘Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#9. Punta del Hidalgo, 1997
Sotheby’s New-York: 16 November 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 100,000
USD 241,300
Punta del Hidalgo | Contemporary Day Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO
Punta del Hidalgo, 1997
Oil on canvas
60 x 89.5 cm (23 5/8 x 35 1/4 inches)
Signed and titled (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1997-18
#10. La città, 2000
Dorotheum Vienna: 30 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 182,000 / USD 198,380
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2023/11/30 – Realized price: EUR 182,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
La città, 2000
Oil on canvas
90×60 cm (33/8 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#11. I giorni della brina (The days of snow), 2010
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 29 November 2023
Estimated: HKD 200,000 – 400,000
HKD 1,512,000 / USD 194,095
SALVO (1947-2015), I giorni della brina (The days of snow) | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
I giorni della brina (The days of snow), 2010
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm (15 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches)
Signed, inscribed and titled ‘”I giorni della brina” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under the n. S2010-53
#12. Sans titre, 1987
Christie’s Paris: 20 October 2023
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 176,400 / USD 192,276
Salvo (1947-2015), Sans titre | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Sans titre, 1987
Oil on canvas
100×80 cm (39 3/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 87’ (on the reverse)
#13. Senza titolo, 1987
Sotheby’s Milan: 22 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 171,450 / USD 186,881
Senza titolo | Contemporary Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1987
Oil on board
74.8 x 54.6 cm (29 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated 87 Gennaio on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1987-49
#14. Senza titolo, 1996
Christie’s Milan: 5 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 55,000 – 75,000
EUR 138,600 / USD 151,075
Salvo (1947-2015), Senza titolo | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Senza titolo, 1996
Oil on canvas
60×80 cm (23 5/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1996-53
#15. Senza titolo, 1986
Christie’s Milan: 31 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 60,000 – 80,000
EUR 138,600 / USD 151,075
Salvo (1947-2015), Senza titolo | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Senza titolo, 1986
Oil on canvas
149×119 cm (58 5/8 x 46 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1986-1
#16. Il Villaggio, 2004
Dorotheum Vienna: 29 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 130,000 / USD 141,700
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2023/11/29 – Realized price: EUR 130,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Il Villaggio, 2004
Oil on canvas
50×50 cm (19 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo
#17. Una Sera (Un soir), 1993
Christie’s Paris: 6 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 70,000 – 100,000
EUR 126,000 / USD 137,340
Salvo (1947-2015), Una Sera (Un soir) | Christie’s
Salvo (1947-2015)
Una Sera (Un soir), 1993
Oil on canvas
80.4 x 70.4 cm (31 5/8 x 27 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ”’UNA SERA” Salvo 93′ (on the reverse)
#18. Giugno, 2007
Christie’s Milan: 31 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 45,000 – 65,000
EUR 126,000 / USD 137,340
Salvo (1947-2015), Giugno | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Giugno, 2007
Oil on canvas
50×70 cm (19 7/8 x 27 5/8 inches)
Signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2007-117
#19. Primavera, 2006
Dorotheum Vienna: 24 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 35,000 – 50,000
EUR 123,500 / USD 134,615
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2023/05/24 – Realized price: EUR 123,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Primavera, 2006
Oil on canvas
60×80 cm (23 5/8 x 31 1/2 inches)
Titled and signed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#20. Nevicata, 1980
Sotheby’s Milan: 20 April 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 120,650 / USD 131,510
Nevicata | Contemporary Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Nevicata, 1980
Oil on board
90×110 cm (35 3/8 x 43 1/4 inches)
Signed and dated 80 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1980-19
#21. La valle, 2006
Christie’s Milan: 5 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 35,000 – 50,000
EUR 119,700 / USD 130,475
Salvo (1947-2015), La valle | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
La valle, 2006
Oil on board
40×50 cm (15 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2006-142
#22. Inverno (Winter), 2006
Christie’s Amsterdam: 21 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 113,400 / USD 123,605
SALVO (1947-2015), Inverno (Winter) | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Inverno (Winter), 2006
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm ((15 5/8 x 19 5/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Inverno” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2006-59
#23. Djerba, 1995
Christie’s London: 29 June 2023
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 88,200 / USD 107,430
SALVO (1947-2015), Djerba | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Djerba, 1995
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm (15 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed ‘”Djerba” Salvo B’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1995-21
#24. Dicembre, 2001
Dorotheum Vienna: 24 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 35,000 – 50,000
EUR 97,500 / USD 106,275
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2023/05/24 – Realized price: EUR 97,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Dicembre, 2001
Oil on canvas
80×70 cm (31 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
USD 100,000
#25. Dicembre 2006
Dorotheum Vienna: 29 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 25,000 – 35,000
EUR 84,500 / USD 92,105
Salvo * – Contemporary Art I 2023/11/29 – Realized price: EUR 84,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Dicembre 2006
Oil on canvas
40×50 cm (15 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches)
signed, titled and dedicated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#26. Il Porto, 1983
Christie’s Paris: 8 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 15,000 – 20,000
EUR 81,900 / USD 89,270
Salvo (1947-2015), Il Porto | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il Porto, 1983
Oil on canvas
30.2 x 24.5 cm (11 7/8 x 9 5/8 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1983-023
#27. Il pericolo ha i suoi splendori, 1989
Christie’s Milan: 7 June 2023
Estimated: EUR 5,000 – 7,000
EUR 81,900 / USD 89,270
Salvo (1947-2015), Il pericolo ha i suoi splendori | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il pericolo ha i suoi splendori, 1989
Oil on board
36.8 x 38.5 cm (14 1/2 x 15 1/8 inches)
Signed, dated and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1989-55
#28. Eisleben, 1999
Artnet Auctions: 14 December 2023
Estimated: USD 70,000 – 90,000
USD 81,250
Eisleben by Salvo on artnet Auctions
SALVO
Eisleben, 1999
Oil on canvas
50×70 cm (19 7/8 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered with Archivio Salvo, no. S 1999-33
#29. By Night, 1985
Karl & Faber: 30 June 2023
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 73,660 / USD 80,040
3181016 – Salvo: Bei Nacht – Karl & Faber
SALVO
By Night, 1985
Oil on canvas
80.5 x 60 cm (31 5/8 X 23 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated “Dicembre 85” / “12-85” on the upper and left edges of the canvas
#30. Alba 2000, 2002
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 30,000
EUR 71,500 / USD 77,935
Salvo * – Modern and Contemporary Art 2023/12/21 – Realized price: EUR 71,500 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Alba 2000, 2002
Oil on canvas
60×45 cm (23 5/8 x 17 5/8 inches)
Signed on the reverse and titled
Registered at Archivio Salvo, Turin
#31. Ottobre, 2001
Christie’s New-York: 10 March 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 75,600
SALVO (1947-2015), Ottobre | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Ottobre, 2001
Oil on canvas board
59.7 x 49 cm (23 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “ottobre”‘ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2001-60
#32. Bosnia, 2000
Dorotheum Vienna: 25 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 24,000 – 32,000
EUR 65,000 / USD 70,850
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2023/05/25 – Realized price: EUR 65,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (born in Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Bosnia, 2000
Oil on canvas
70×50 cm ( 27 1/2 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#33. Le armi dei tumultuosi nemici, 1972
Sotheby’s Milan: 20 April 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 63,500 / USD 69,495
Le armi dei tumultuosi nemici | Contemporary Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Le armi dei tumultuosi nemici, 1972
Engraving on marble plaque
70.8 x 63 x 2.3 cm (27 7/8 x 24 7/8 x 7/8 inches)
Signed twice, inscribed and dated 1972-ott. on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1972-9
#34. Primavera, 2012
Christie’s New-York: 29 September 2023
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 69,300
SALVO (1947-2015), Primavera | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Primavera, 2012
Oil on canvas
40.3 x 30.2 cm (15 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”PRIMAVERA” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#35. Senza titolo, 1986
Sotheby’s Milan: 25 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 63,500 / USD 69,125
Senza titolo | Contemporary Discoveries | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1986
Oil on board
47.5 x 40.5 cm (18 5/8 x 16 inches)
Signed and dated 86 on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1986-98
#36. Minareto, 1990–91
Dorotheum Vienna: 30 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 62,400 / USD 68,015
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2023/11/30 – Realized price: EUR 62,400 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Minareto, 1990–91
Oil on canvas
50×60 cm (19 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches)
signed and dated on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#37. Inverno, 2011
Artnet Auctions: 29 June 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 60,000
Inverno by Salvo on artnet Auctions
SALVO
Inverno, 2011
Oil on canvas
30×40 cm (11.8 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
#38. Una sera, 2007
Dorotheum Vienna: 20 September 2023
Estimated: EUR 25,000 – 35,000
EUR 54,600 / USD 59,515
Salvo * – Modern and Contemporary Art 2023/09/20 – Realized price: EUR 54,600 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Una sera, 2007
Oil on canvas
40×30 cm (15 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches)
Verso signed, titled and with dedication
Registered at Archivio Salvo, Turin
#39. Senza titolo, 1984
Sotheby’s Milan: 25 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 53,340 / USD 58,140
Senza titolo | Contemporary Discoveries | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1984
Oil on canvas
50.3 x 60.3 cm (9 7/8 x 23 7/8 inches)
Signed and dated 31-12-84 on the overlap
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1984-65
#40. Prima Neve, 1993
Sotheby’s London: 13 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 18,000 – 25,000
GBP 44,450 / USD 54,140
Prima Neve | Contemporary Day Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Prima Neve, 1993
Oil on canvas
24.8 x 69.8 cm (9 3/4 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated 93 (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S1993-21
#41. Entrèves, 2006
Artnet Auctions: 8 November 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 50,000
Entrèves by Salvo on artnet Auctions
SALVO
Entrèves, 2006
Oil on canvas
40×30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered with Archivio Salvo and numbered S2006-60 and dated 10.06.2020
#42. Una sera, 1997-98
Sotheby’s Milan: 25 May 2023
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 30,000
EUR 44,450 / USD 48,450
Una sera | Contemporary Discoveries | 2023 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Una sera, 1997-98
Oil on canvas
60×50 cm (23 5/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S1997/98-12
#43. Untitled, 1984
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 10,000 – 15,000
EUR 44,200 / USD 48,180
Salvo * – Modern and Contemporary Art 2023/12/21 – Realized price: EUR 44,200 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1984
Oil on panel
40×31 cm ((15 3/4 x 11 7/8 inches)
Signed, dated, oil on panel
Registered at Archivio Salvo
#44. Untitled, 2001
Koller: 22 June 2023
Estimated: CHF 20,000 – 30,000
CHF 43,000 / USD 48,075
SALVO (SALVATORE MANGIONE) Untitled. 2001.
SALVO (SALVATORE MANGIONE) (Leonforte 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 2001
Oil on cardboard
49.5 x 60 cm (19 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed on the reverse: Salvo
Registered with Archivio Salvo, Turin under the archive number: S2001-48
#45. Lorenzo Lotto, 1981
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 18,000 – 25,000
EUR 39,000 / USD 45,510
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2023/11/30 – Realized price: EUR 39,000 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Lorenzo Lotto, 1981
Oil on canvas
80 x 62.5 cm (31 1/2 x 23 7/8 inches)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#46. Primavera, 2002
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 12,000 – 16,000
EUR 36,400 / USD 39,675
Salvo * – Contemporary Art II 2023/05/25 – Realized price: EUR 36,400 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Primavera, 2002
Oil on canvas
35×25 cm (13 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches)
Titled and signed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
#47. Un’estate a Mentone, 2000
Bonhams Paris: 7 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 20,000 – 30,000
EUR 32,000 / USD 34,930
Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr : SALVO (1947-2015) Un’estate a Mentone 2000
Oil on paper laid on canvas
30×40 cm (11 13/16 x 15 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
#48. Untitled, 1986
Estimated: EUR 10,000 – 15,000
EUR 24,700 / USD 26,965
Untitled, 1986
29.5 x 21 cm (11 5/8 x 8 3/8 inches)
Registered at Archivio Salvo, Turin with archive no. S1986/99-1
#49. Shahr-e Sabz, 2015
Christie’s Amsterdam: 21 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 3,000 – 5,000
EUR 22,680 / USD 24,720
SALVO (1947-2015), Shahr-e Sabz | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
Shahr-e Sabz, 2015
Oil on board
18×17 cm (7 x 6 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘SHAHR-E SABZ Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2015-51
#50. Val d’Itri, 2015
Estimated: EUR 2,500 – 3,000
EUR 20,160 / USD 21,975
Val d’Itri, 2015
Oil on board
12×17 cm (4 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘VAL D’ITRI Salvo’ (on the reverse)
#51. Untitled, 1985
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 December 2023
Estimated: EUR 6,000 – 8,000
EUR 11.050 / USD 12,065
Salvo * – Modern and Contemporary Art 2023/12/21 – Realized price: EUR 11,050 – Dorotheum
SALVO (Leonforte, Sicily, 1947–2015 Turin)
Untitled, 1985
Oil on canvas
30 x 24.3 cm (11 7/8 x 11 1/2 inches)
Signed, dated on the overlap,
Registered at Archivio Salvo
2022 Auction Results
WORK IN PROGRESS
Pianura, 2006
Sotheby’s Milan: 23 November 2022
Estimated: EUR 30,000 – 40,000
EUR 69,300 / USD 71,455
Pianura | Contemporary Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Pianura, 2006
Oil on canvas
70×100 cm (27 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed, titled and inscribed on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the n. S2006-009
PART III: FOCUS
Sunrise
Il Mattino, 1994
Christie’s Hong-Kong: 28 November 2023
Estimated: HKD 1,800,000 – 2,800,000
HKD 8,694,000 / USD 1,116,169
SALVO (1947 – 2015) (christies.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Mattino (The Morning), 1994
Oil on canvas
205×327 cm (80 3/4 x 128 3/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Il Mattino” Salvo’ (on the reverse)
In his masterpiece Il Mattino (1994), which translates to ‘The Morning’, Italian artist Salvo delivers a masterly rendition of a lush marine landscape awakening in the warm splendor of a Mediterranean sunrise. With its ample dimensions, intoxicating colors, and cinematic perspective, this painting immerses the observer in a sublime panorama, a poignant ode to the birth of a new day, brimming with a sense of timelessness and nostalgic intimacy.
Il Mattino is characterized by Salvo’s signature energetic color palette and highly simplified forms, resulting in a dreamlike scene that feels both familiar and surreal. As the sun gracefully ascends on the left side of the panorama, it harmoniously envelops land, sea, and sky in a golden, dazzling radiance, while the right half of the scene retains the ethereal palette of dawn softly transitioning into daylight. An arboreal ensemble of trees stands as silent sentinels on an undulating terrain, overlooking the peaceful sea. The line of vision is punctuated by the rhythmical interplay between the cloud-like treetops of the maritime pines and the more sharp-edged palm fronds. The absence of any trace of human presence invites the viewer to connect with the idyllic beauty of this captivating scene.
For its monumental scale, chromatic energy and awe-inspiring beauty, Il Mattino stands as a powerful icon of Salvo’s lifelong devotion to the landscape genre, showcasing his mastery of light and colour. Crucially, it is also a prime example of the conceptual approach that guided every brushstroke of Salvo’s artistic journey. Indeed, while usually labelled a figurative artist, Salvo transcends the boundaries of reality in his landscapes, directing his gaze towards the very rules of representation itself: much like Morandi’s meticulous studies of bottles, each vista for Salvo becomes an investigation of the subtle nuances of color, light, composition, perspective, even iconographical tropes. In a manner reminiscent of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, whom Salvo greatly admired, he affirmed that ‘we have conventional language and behavior, but also conventional images, representations, thoughts. Paintings such as Il Mattino, therefore, are more concerned with a set of internal rules than pure visual storytelling: certain colours align with specific seasons, a different light corresponds to different times of the day, and nothing is left to chance or treated superficially.
Il Mattino, 2009
Sotheby’s Diriyah: 8 February 2025
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 204,000
Il Mattino | Origins | 2025 | Sotheby’s
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il Mattino, 2009
Oil on canvas
80×60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 inches)
Signed Salvo, titled and illegibly inscribed (on the reverse)
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under no. S2009-128
Italian for “The Morning,” Il mattino from 2009 emblematizes Salvo’s sublime ability to create luminescent, suffused landscapes through a disarming paucity of means. Characteristic of his mature painting style, the present work opens on a coastal paradise stirring to life under the radiant embrace of a Mediterranean sunrise. A cluster of tall cypresses, palm and pine trees sit atop a hill overlooking the sparkling sea, their long shadows stretching across the verdant land. It is compositionally complex, with a variety of interlocking forms individuated by soft, jewel-toned yellows, greens, oranges, blues and pinks. Devoid of human figures and cinematic in perspective, the painting immerses the viewer in a sublime, dreamlike landscape, capturing the essence of a fresh new day full of endless possibilities and a deep, evocative warmth.
Matthew Wong, River at Dusk, 2018. Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for 52,297,000 HKD in April 2024.
There is a clear tension, however, between this almost reductive formal approach to landscape painting and the iridescent, glowing and magical palette that renders his paintings unmistakable. In this regard, the present work is reminiscent of the distinctive landscapes of Henri Rousseau in their false naivety, that is, the injection of the artist’s personality and idiosyncratic visual language into the practice of genre painting. Salvo’s landscapes have been described as “paradisical,” and the present work powerfully depicts the sublimity of light effects. There is a chromatic transition towards the sparkling blue lake in the background as individual trees gradually become illuminated by the sun. The careful, complex composition demonstrates the core conceptual approach that motivates Salvo’s landscape paintings: obeying a set of internal rules, these works transcend genre and iconographical tropes.
Al mattino, 2004
Phillips New-York: 15 May 2024
Estimated: USD 100,000 – 150,000
USD 254,000
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Day S… Lot 306 May 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Al mattino, 2004
Oil on canvas
100×130 cm (39 3/8 x 51 1/8 inches)
Signed and titled “”Al mattino” Salvo” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2004-65
Salvo’s Al mattino, 2004, encapsulates the artist’s obsession with light and the passage of time. Rendering a fantastical sunrise and its gradient atmospheric effect, Salvo captures a village undergoing a metamorphosis. While the rising sun is outside the pictorial plane, the landscape shows dawn’s long shadows and dappled yellow light over the landscape. Like Monet, Salvo treats light as an expressive medium. However, while Monet was fascinated by the science of optics and perception, Salvo’s observations of space are more interested in nostalgia and recollection, offering visual meditations on the psychological encounter with place. Salvo imbues his idyllic landscapes with the radiance of memory—they are remembered places, perfectly tranquil in nature.
Giorgio de Chirico, The Soothsayer’s Recompense, 1913. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania. Image: Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950, 1950-134-38, Artwork: © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
Salvo (née Salvatore Mangione) was born in 1947 in Leonforte, a small Sicilian commune. He began his artistic career in Turin as an Italian Modernist, participating in the Arte Povera movement throughout the 1960s and encountering artists such as Alighieri Boetti and Gilberto Zorio. Figures in the movement placed increasing emphasis on creating art without the limitations and historical weight of traditional practices and materials. Salvo’s experience with avant-garde sculpture and photography colored his return to figurative painting in 1973, with his oeuvre maintaining a strong conceptual valence. His paintings are influenced by Giorgio de Chirico, who began the Metaphysical art movement and advocated for a return to figurative art. De Chirico sought to combine reality with unexpected elements to elicit psychological responses, such as nostalgia and estrangement, employing lightness and colorism.
In 1976, Salvo began his series of wonderfully bright and colorful landscapes. His compositions use a painterly mannerism, employing simplified geometric forms and heightened colors to capture the appearance of a dreamlike memory. Al mattino is characteristically surreal in its fantastical elements: the perfectly planar edifices bear neither doors nor windows, the foliage and mountains are dramatically candy-colored, and the clouds appear in intense pastel hues. With its expressive light and artificial color, Al mattino is not a recreation of nature but rather a mental image. The scene unfolds with the sublimity of a fond memory. The affection the artist conveys for the setting is palpable in the aureate glow which suffuses the painting—a glow which permeates the forms that seemingly emit an inner radiance. Just as the sun illumines the physical environment, the mind bestows a warm glow over the inner psychological landscape. Part-real and part-idealized, the painted landscape occupies that specific juncture between past and present, between night and day, where the effects of light and memory awash the world in a magical luminescence.
Sunset
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle, 1991
Christie’s London: 13 October 2023
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 693,000 / USD 844,074
SALVO (1947-2015)
Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out), 1991
Oil on canvas
200×150 cm (78 3/4 x 59 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”Il giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle” Salvo 91’ (on the reverse)
In ll giorno fu pieno di lampi la sera verranno le stelle (1991), the Italian artist Salvo paints a luminescent earthly paradise. The title translates as The day was full of lightning in the evening stars will come out: Salvo’s landscape shows a lakeside garden at sunset, after a storm and before a star-studded night. It was likely inspired by the opening lines of Giovanni Pascoli’s poem ‘La mia sera’, composed in 1900, which compares the peace after a thunderstorm with the poet’s state of mind. Salvo uses soft, jewel-toned colours and simplified forms to create a scene that might have come from a dream. The sky glows amber and candy-coloured clouds float in the sky. An arboretum of trees—spiky palms, graceful pines, shapely cypresses—overlooks the tranquil lake, suffused with the magenta of a warm evening sun. There are traces of human presence in a plain vaulted building, neatly-shaped topiary and a footpath. But Salvo leaves us alone to contemplate this enchanted scene, a disarming moment that the painter has spared from the passing of time.
Salvo’s painting captures the remarkable beauty of his native Italy, where he spent his whole life. He was born Salvatore Mangione to a poor family in rural Sicily, before moving to prosperous industrial Turin as a teenager. As a young artist he was a member of the city’s fertile avant-garde scene. He participated in the Arte Povera movement, which sought to push Italian art beyond traditional forms and mediums, and shared a studio with Alighiero Boetti. His own early work was largely based on photography and texts: when invited by curator Harald Szeemann to exhibit in documenta 5 in 1972, he did not produce a physical artwork but instead placed his name in the catalogue in a larger typeface than those of other artists. Then, in 1973, Salvo radically changed course. He turned his back on conceptual art. At a time when the critical reputation of figurative painting was at a low ebb, he started producing lustrous landscapes of his homeland: a swerve that was in part triggered by a chance encounter with the metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico in Rome, in which the two artists locked eyes. Salvo’s distilled forms and fantastical landscapes share in the trance-like atmosphere of de Chirico’s paintings. Like de Chirico he often drew on the visual language of the Italian Renaissance, such as the trees in Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel frescoes (1305) and the figures in Raphael’s Saint George and the Dragon (c. 1505). Salvo’s work is also in the lineage of visionary landscape artists like Samuel Palmer and Henri Rousseau. Yet his style looked forward, too, to the postmodern design of the Milan-based Memphis Group and the mid-1980s return of figurative painting. Salvo himself believed that his work was inspired by forces beyond his control. ‘I could be considered as pertaining to that category of artists who express themselves through rapture’, he said. ‘I cannot help but believe in the existence of occult forces which, while the painter sleeps, enter the painting itself and correct and improve it’ (Salvo, quoted in Salvo: Paintings 1975-1987, exh. cat. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam 1987, p. 27). The present painting is a gateway into Salvo’s captivating, phantasmagorical world.
Agosto, 2009
Phillips Hong-Kong: 24 March 2024
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 1,079,500 / USD 137,925
Salvo – New Now Hong Kong Lot 2 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Agosto, 2009
Oil on canvas
70.8 x 50.6 cm (27 7/8 x 19 7/8 inches)
Signed and titled ‘”Agosto” Salvo’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo under the number S2009-81
In the present lot Agosto, Salvo once again transports us into the essence of the Italian landscape, a subject that he cherished and returned to throughout his career. This piece encapsulates the perpetual interaction of light and shadow, color and form, that defines Salvo’s later works. Drawing from the well of his Sicilian roots, the painting presents a scene distilled from the August warmth, a month deeply engrained in the Mediterranean soul. In this work, the interplay of light and shadow is not just a depiction of a specific time of day but a broader meditation on time itself. The painting, much like others named after seasons or times, captures the ephemeral nature of memory. The rich, warm hues that dominate the canvas evoke the languid heat of an Italian August, a time when the sun seems to stretch moments into infinity.
Agosto stands as a testament to Salvo’s unique position in the art world of his time. The painting’s stylized trees and house, heavy with color, betray a conceptual depth that belies their apparent simplicity. His work channels the surreal landscapes of Giorgio de Chirico, the dynamism of Carlo Carrà, and even the spatial narratives of the Renaissance master Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Yet, Salvo’s voice remains distinct, carving out a place that neither fully adheres to nor completely rejects the movements that swirled around him. Through Agosto, Salvo continues to engage us in a dialogue that transcends time and place. The painting is a window into Salvo’s enduring muse: the Italian landscape, ever-changing yet timeless, a canvas on which the artist masterfully plays with the concepts of memory and the passage of time. Salvo’s work remains an intimate invitation into the depths of introspection, a journey into the infinite landscapes of the heart and mind.
Senza titolo, 1988
Sotheby’s London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 381,000 / USD 483,108
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Senza titolo, 1988
Oil on canvas
198.9 x 148.6 cm (78 1/4 x 58 1/2 inches)
Signed and dated 88 (on the reverse)
Registered as no. S1988-17 in the Archivio Salvo, Turin
Senza titolo from 1988 emblematizes Salvo’s sublime ability to create luminescent, suffused landscapes through a disarming paucity of means. Characteristic of his mature painting style of the late 1980s, the present work depicts a path leading down towards a lake past plain vaulted buildings, cypresses, palm and pine trees. It is compositionally complex, with a variety of interlocking forms individuated by soft, jewel-toned yellows, mauves, oranges and pinks. Devoid of human figures and cinematic in perspective, the painting immerses the viewer in a sublime, dreamlike landscape, defined by a sense of harmonious nostalgia.
Salvatore Mangione was born in Leonforte, Sicily, in 1947. He would spend his early childhood there before moving with his family from Catania to Turin in 1956. There, he would become immersed in art, participating as a sixteen-year-old in the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti’s 121st exhibition and eventually becoming close to the group of young artists which formed the arte povera movement centred on Gian Enzo Sperone’s gallery. At this point in his career, he was most influenced by Conceptual and Minimalist art, coming into contact with Joseph Kosuth and Sol LeWitt in 1969.
Salvo turned to painting definitively from 1973, reflecting primarily on the idea of a return to classical painting and the notion of the museum as the storehouse of memory. His meeting with Giorgio de Chirico in Rome was crucial to this, and his early paintings assume much of the older artist’s classicising, metaphysical impulse. However, Salvo’s paintings represent more than mere revivalism, encompassing rather a reciprocal conversion and conversation between past and future. At its core, his painting is about the “impossibility of narrating and representing. Whether you want to study the course of its evolution or divide it up by suggestion or image, with frequent swings back and forth like a pendulum, Salvo’s art is an art of description and compilation” (Luca Beatrice, “I am the-Best-Painter,” in Exh. Cat., Caraglio, ex Convento dei Cappuccini, Salvo, 1999, p. 20). Objectivity remains a key touchstone of his art and the present work demonstrates the classifying, essentializing impulse central to his painting. As aptly described by Luca Beatrice, Salvo’s landscapes tend towards an “abstract purity,” a kind of “’rare excellence,’ because Salvo’s painting has the capacity to seduce the eye, any and every eye, in spite of the fact that he keeps strictly within the bounds of total normality” (Ibid., p. 22). His practice is perhaps more closely aligned with Giorgio Morandi’s, rather than de Chirico’s, in its suppression of the “conceptual” in favor of the essentially representational.
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO, ENIGMA OF DEPARTURE, 1914 / FONDAZIONE MAGNANI ROCCA, CORTE DI MAMIANO, ITALY
IMAGE: © SCALA, FLORENCE/ ARTWORK: © DACS 2024
There is a clear tension, however, between this almost reductive formal approach to landscape painting and the iridescent, glowing and magical palette that renders his paintings unmistakable. In this regard, the present work is reminiscent of the distinctive landscapes of Henri Rousseau in their false naïvety, that is, the injection of the artist’s personality and idiosyncratic visual language into the practice of genre painting. Salvo’s landscapes have been described as “paradisical,” and the present work powerfully depicts the sublimity of light effects. There is a chromatic transition towards the sparkling blue lake in the background as individual trees and buildings gradually become illuminated by the sun; this pulls the viewer’s eye through the composition, an effect compounded by the path in the foreground as it moves towards the water. The careful, complex composition demonstrates the core conceptual approach that motivates Salvo’s landscape paintings: obeying a set of internal rules, these works transcend genre and iconographical tropes.
Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso, 2009
Phillips New-York: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 406,400
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 303 November 2023 | Phillips
SALVO
Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso, 2009
Oil on canvas
80×100 cm (31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches)
Signed, indistinctly inscribed and partially titled “”SE ELENA MI CHIEDE UN QUADRO ROSSO TRA ZERO E TUTTO QUESTO È QUEL CHE POSSO” Salvo” on the reverse
While considered a figurative artist, Salvo rarely paints the figure; rather, he gives priority to what he sees as the true protagonist of his paintings—light. Light is everywhere in Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso from 2009: a cool glow reflects off the candy-hued tree in the foreground at right; the geometric, faceless buildings that populate his fictional town are steeped in lush gradients, diffused by the soft glow of the waning sun in the upper left. The artist’s masterful rendering of natural light in his otherworldly landscapes evokes the dreamy wash of memory. Salvo’s landscape is one shaped by empathy rather than reality.
Salvo was born Salvatore Mangione in 1947 in Leonforte, Italy. An Italian Modernist, Salvo’s practice originally consisted of conceptual photography and sculpture. He would later be associated with the 1960s Arte Povera movement—notably sharing a studio with Alighiero Boetti—before turning to painting in 1973. He would ultimately come to be known for the brightly colored landscapes he commended in the early 1980s, inspired by the likes of Giorgio de Chirico, and which would define the latter half of his oeuvre. Se Elena mi chiede un quadro rosso tra zero e tutto questo è quello che posso, which roughly translates to “If Elena asks me for a red painting between zero and all, that’s what I can do,” is iconic of the artist’s landscape practice and embodies the qualities of timelessness, nostalgic intimacy and a longing for solitude which are intrinsic to Salvo’s paintings. The work and its title are a cheeky response to gallerist Elena Zonca, Salvo’s close friend, who asked him to paint a red work for a show of monochromes she was organizing. Salvo, who of course never made monochromes, created the pink-hued example in response to her request. Painted in 2009, this work was created in Salvo’s twilight years, just a few years before his passing in 2015.
Spring
Prima primavera, 1996
Phillips New-York: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 60,000 – 80,000
USD 495,300
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporar… Lot 305 November 2023 | Phillips
SALVO
Prima primavera, 1996
Oil on Masonite
70.2 x 110.2 cm (27 5/8 x 43 3/8 inches)
Signed and titled “Salvo PRIMA PRIMAVERA” on the reverse
Writing of Salvo for Artforum, Marco Meneguzzo describes the late artist as someone who “never wanted to belong to any movement but who could have been a leader of the Transavanguardia—gifted us with infinite landscapes, foreshortened city views, places without people, almost all small scale, more or less as big as the square backdrops used by strolling balladeers who, for a few decades more, could still be seen in Sicily where he was born in 1947.”i Salvo’s enduring muse of the Italian landscape is exemplified in Prima Primavera, 1996, and can be seen across his oeuvre with paintings that compositionally rhyme, reflecting a townscape as it gradually changes over times of day, seasons and years.
Originally from Leonforte in Sicily, Salvo’s artistic journey was profoundly shaped by his exposure to Arte Povera and interactions with influential figures such as Sol LeWitt, Robert Barry, and Joseph Kosuth during his developmental years in Turin. The pivotal year of 1973 marked Salvo’s return to painting, which saw the artist skillfully blend the avant-garde conceptualism of his early practice with a vibrant, representational painterly aesthetic. Salvo stands as a singular figure of his time: his bright, heavily stylized paintings belie their conceptual consideration, all the while referencing painters like the Surrealist Giorgio de Chirico and Futurist Carlo Carrà. His condensed representation of space, vertical compositional build and bright palette even recall the work of Italian Renaissance master Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Salvo’s paintings from 1980 to 2011 are characterized by hyper-saturated landscapes with globulous compositional elements. His style defied the prevailing aesthetics of the 1980s, positioning him as an outlier even amongst the decade’s painting resurgence. Salvo’s works blend real and imagined spaces in a meditation on the psychology of place and abstract concepts like time. Prima Primavera, like many of his other works named after seasons, months and times of day, exemplifies his masterful use of light and vivid colors to translate the passage of time and memory.
Maggio, 2009
Phillips New-York: 14 May 2024
Estimated: USD 300,000 – 500,000
USD 482,600
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Evenin… Lot 28 May 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Maggio, 2009
Oil on burlap
180.7 x 130.2 cm (71 1/8 x 51 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed “Salvo “MAGGIO”” on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the number S2009-145
In Maggio, 2009, Italian Modernist Salvo, born Salvatore Mangione, conjures a vernal late-Spring Eden. With a title translating to “May,” Salvo’s highly stylized landscape appropriately depicts a rolling “Primavera” hillside, clear blue skies above, and the sleepy countryside gleaming in the afternoon sun’s embrace. The scene was likely inspired by Salvo’s time spent in the valley of Costigliole d’Asti, nestled between the vineyard scenery of Langhe and Monferrato, whose picturesque views appear in many of his mature works. The wistful stillness in Maggio reflects Salvo’s distinctive approach to capturing nature’s beauty—distilling it to its essential component parts—as well as themes of identity, memory, and cultural heritage, showcasing his skillful merging of avant-garde conceptualism with a vibrant, representational aesthetic. Beginning in late 1979, Salvo embarked on a three-decades-long exploration of the landscape genre, becoming renowned for his signature vivid, hyper-saturated depictions of nature and a visual language of trees and vegetation inspired by Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel frescoes in Padua, Italy. Maggio serves as an archetypical example of this evocation, distinguished by its monumental proportions, architectural rigor, and idyllic beauty. It epitomizes Salvo’s decades-long commitment to the genre of landscape and demonstrates his mastery in the manipulation of light and color, especially as concerns his ability to convey the passage of time.
Giotto di Bondone, Gioacchino tra i pastori (Joachim Among the Shepherds), c. 1304 – 1306
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy. Image: Manuel Cohen / Art Resource, NY
In the spirit of Giorgio de Chirico and Carlo Carrà, Salvo’s landscapes found inspiration in the imagery of the Italian Renaissance. Dreamlike elements, simplified forms, and sharp contrasts of light and shadow in Maggio evoke imaginative depictions of nature and disquieting effects reminiscent of the Metaphysical Painting movement. In addition to exploring the psychology of place and abstract concepts like time, Salvo’s earliest landscapes, characterized by their vibrant palettes and distinctive spheroid elements, defied contemporary aesthetics. They foreshadowed the resurgence of figurative painting in the mid-1980s—a vision that Salvo continued to embrace and refine throughout his career, as evidenced in his present work. Additional connections can be drawn between Salvo’s bold use and variation of color and the chromatic scale employed in models of postmodern design and architecture, such as the Milan-based Memphis Group’s highly ornamental, loud, and zany design style.
Starting in the late 2000s, Salvo’s paintings embraced the subject of the lowlands, introducing a new, more cinematic perspective in his landscapes. In Maggio, Salvo interrupts the line of vision, orchestrating a discordant exchange between the jagged peaks of mountains and rooftops. Meanwhile, the pillowy curvature of the clouds mingles with the puffball-like “Tiglio”—Italian for “Lime” or “Linden”—trees that are common to the area and after which the region was named.
“These valleys that are ranged one behind the other…They are springtime scenes, because that allows me to use spots of yellow, pink, and white, the colors of trees in the spring…In my view there has to be a pattern of colors in a large picture, and only a spring scene lets me do that.”
In Maggio, Salvo’s placid, almost still life-like, depiction of country life is replete with the promise of light. Yet, within these Elysian fields, nothing stirs, and there are no signs of life. The falseness in the repetition and fixedness of form—a kind of artificiality—belies an uneasy sense of paradise lost. He centers as his subject the interplay of light, color, and shape, without any reference to the figure or a clear narrative. The effect is that of a tableau, something fixed and fully realized that sits in dialogue with the simplicity and stillness in Giorgio Morandi’s intimate displays of cups, vases, and other household objects. Salvo’s reflection on his choice of spring scenes, characterized by colors inspired by nature’s seasonal shifts, suggests a deliberate exploration of seriality within his paintings.
“A picture is always a part of a sequence, and so you produce variations, a bit like Morandi’s subjects.”
This recognition of the iterative process mirrors Morandi’s methodical exploration of variations within his still life compositions, whether through adjustments to the color palette or manipulation of forms. Shifting perspectives, altering the time of day, or adjusting the compositional relationships among familiar shapes, Salvo captures the elusive essence of portraying a definitive world image. Maggio emerges as a timeless testament to nature’s fleeting phenomena, revealing its own limitations artfully.
Giorgio Morandi, Still Life, c. 1955. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lenart in honor of Rusty and Nancy Powell, 1997.112.2
Artwork: © 2024 Giorgio Morandi, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/SIAE, Rome
Salvo demonstrates an architectural focus in Maggio by simplifying natural forms into fundamental geometric shapes. In this way he echoes Paul Cézanne’s stylistic approach to painting but removes every trace of his predecessor’s broken brushstrokes. Today, this stylized sensibility finds resonance in Nicolas Party’s work, where his color palette and reductive forms visually echo Salvo’s paintings. In Maggio’s simplified scenery, an essentially abstract composition of illusionistic color fields in foreshortened perspective, glowing unseen light sources, and neatly shaped topiary balance inaccessible and windowless buildings that seem hardly designed with human beings in mind, let alone lived in. The absence of any trace of human presence invites the viewer to connect with the idyllic beauty of this captivating scene.
Places
Capriccio, 1998
Phillips Hong-Kong: 27 May 2025
Estimated: HKD 750,000 – 1,200,000
HKD 1,016,000 / USD 129,645
Salvo Modern & Contemporary Art: Evening & Day Sale
Registered under no. S1998/08-1
At once serene and mesmerizing, Capriccio captivates viewers with its luminous glow and is a vivid archetype of Salvo’s widely renowned Italian landscapes. Through his own distinctive creativity, the artist reimagines the essence of the landscape genre with a fascinating intersection of tradition and modernity. Dominated by three monumental pillars that are rendered against the warm, radiant hues of a Mediterranean seascape, the present work encapsulates Salvo’s longstanding exploration of light and shadow and conjures a brilliant interplay between architecture and nature. As the sun gracefully rises on the left, it illuminates the paradisiacal vista of where land meets sea, casting extensive shadows that stretch beyond the canvas. Infused with personal and biographical elements that are native to Salvo’s homeland, the coastline is flanked by a row of luscious vegetation – maritime pines, a pyramidal cypress and sharp-edged palm tree – with the line of vision being punctuated by a cotton candy-like cloud hovering in midair. When viewed in the flesh, Capriccio transports us into an otherworldly escape where both the familiar and imagined coexist.
“For years I travelled mostly in my imagination as there was a period in which I stayed mostly at home, but went on fantastic journeys, and then I really started to travel again… when people go on journeys they are seeking their own paradise, or hoping to make a dream come true, or chasing after the utopia of a memory that they think they might be able to rediscover in reality.”
Salvator Mangione, widely known as Salvo, was born in Sicily in 1947. His exposure to the Arte Povera movement and encounters with conceptual artists namely, Sol LeWitt, Robert Barry, and Joseph Kosuth instilled in him a profound understanding of artistic philosophy which engendered a solid foundation that would later define his unparalleled and celebrated corpus of works. In the early 1970s, Salvo’s style took a noticeable shift as he turned to figurative painting. Whilst retaining a conceptual focus, the artist adopted a novel painterly aesthetic to construct idyllic landscapes that were equal parts vibrant and contemplative. This was considered a redefining era for the artist as his compositions began to exude a dreamlike quality, characterised by hyper-saturated colours and basic geometric forms to create a sense of tranquility and harmony. Upon closer inspection, the stylized architecture and stark shadows of the present lot evoke a sense of nostalgia and timelessness that draws reference to Giorgio de Chirico’s surreal landscape, The Enigma of a Day.
Giorgio de Chirico, The Enigma of a Day, early 1914
Image: The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence
Artwork: © Estate of Giorgio de Chirico / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
Hailing from Salvo’s titular Capriccio series, the present work features the artist’s recurring motif of Doric columns from ancient Greek ruins. The artist’s deep fascination for these man-made relics stemmed from his extensive travels through Greece, Yugoslavia, and Turkey and they often became a significant subject that preoccupied many of his later paintings. Perhaps to Salvo, the pillars standing either in isolation or as fragments of imagined structures, serve as both structural elements within the composition and symbolic markers that evoke a sense of history, memory, and the enduring presence of the past.
Canaletto, A Capriccio View with Ruins, circa 1742-44
Royal Collection Trust, London
The present work firmly situates Salvo within the lineage of Italian landscape painting and references the genre of capriccio works that emerged in the eighteenth century. It particularly recalls paintings by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, where these artists sought to create imaginative and often fantastical views of cities and landscapes, blending real and illusory elements. Painted in 1998, Capriccio echoes this tradition, presenting an idealized scene that brings to mind a sense of place whilst it simultaneously transcends a specific location. Salvo captures the true essence of the Italian landscape but infuses it with a timeless quality that elevates it beyond mere representation. Devoid of any trace of human presence, the artist encourages viewers to connect with the beauty of this enchanting scene.
Pontremoli, 1993
Phillips Hong-Kong: 1 June 2024
Estimated: HKD 400,000 – 600,000
HKD 698,500 / USD 89,340
Salvo – Modern & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Hong Kong Saturday, June 1, 2024 at GMT+8 | Phillips
Pontremoli, 1993
Oil on canvas
In Pontremoli, Salvo transports us to the very essence of the Italian landscape, a subject that held profound significance not only for the artist throughout his career, but also which is at the heart of the Italian artistic cannon. The present piece encapsulates Salvo’s adept interplay of light and shadow, colour and form that characterises his later works, suffused with his distinctive soft pastel-coloured hues. Drawing inspiration from his Sicilian heritage, the painting distils a scene from another region of Italy—specifically, the charming city of the titular Pontremoli, nestled in the fertile and picturesque landscapes of Tuscany. Here, we are greeted by the captivating, lush vista of Pontremoli’s cathedral and bell tower, bathed in the warm, luminous glows of dusk, where hues of soft oranges and purples gently vie for attention. Luxuriant green hedges cup the architecture in the foreground and background, and the latter leads the eye to grassy planes leading up to faraway peaks.
Giorgio de Chirico, Great Metaphysical Interior, 1917
Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Image: © The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence, Artwork: © 2024 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome
Pontremoli perfectly encapsulates Salvo’s dreamlike treatment of landscape. Within the painting’s stylized architecture, verdant foliage, and majestic mountain backdrop, all suffused with captivating amber tones, lies a profound conceptual depth that belies the painting’s deceptively simple appearance. Salvo’s artistic voice remains distinctly his own, having drawn inspiration from the surreal landscapes of Giorgio de Chirico, the dynamic energy of Carlo Carrà, and the spatial narratives of Renaissance master Ambrogio Lorenzetti. His visual lexicon stands apart, neither wholly adhering to nor outrightly rejecting the artistic currents that surrounded him.
Salvatore Mangione, known as Salvo, was born in Leonforte. His earliest encounters with the Arte Povera movement and conceptual artists such as Sol LeWitt, Robert Barry, and Joseph Kosuth shaped his profound understanding of artistic philosophy, which would in turn continue to inform his entire oeuvre. In the late seventies, Salvo’s artistic trajectory took a turn as he embraced painting with a newfound passion, seamlessly weaving avant-garde concepts into his expressive style. The creation of Pontremoli and other such works within the period 1980 to 2011 marked a further refinement of his painterly language, resulting in landscapes exemplifying his vibrant contemplation and brushwork. Salvo’s signature use of hyper-saturated colours and gracefully curved shapes defied the prevailing aesthetic sensibilities of the eighties, and remain instantly recognizable. The artist’s landscapes transcend mere representation, offering nuanced yet timeless explorations of place and time, where often imagined spaces acquire a tangible reality akin to physical locations, filled with an enchanting and mystical anachronism.
San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Christie’s London: 9 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 80,000 – 120,000
GBP 378,000 / USD 479,304
SALVO (1947-2015)
San Nicola Arcella, 2005
Oil on canvas
100.6 x 140.3 cm (39 5/8 x 55 1/4 inches)
Signed and titled ‘Salvo “San Nicola ARCELLA”‘ (on the reverse)
Painted in 2005, Salvo’s luminous composition San Nicola Arcella depicts the town of the same name located in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Bright, evocative colours conjure this warm idyll, a sun-drenched haven situated alongside the tranquil Mediterranean Sea. A travel lover, Salvo dedicated many canvases to the places he visited, and it is likely that he spent time basking in the summer glories of this seaside resort.
San Nicola Arcella is known for its dramatic coastal topography and undulating cliffs, which Salvo has captured in the present work. While his initial artistic forays were more conceptual—following a move to Turin, he immersed himself in the nascent Arte Povera movement and shared a studio with Alighiero Boetti—Salvo began to paint landscapes in the late-1970s following an encounter with the metaphysical artist Giorgio de Chirico. Like his predecessor, Salvo, too, created dreamlike panoramas of radiant light, and with its generous dimensions and gentle heat, San Nicola Arcella plunges its viewer into the platonic ideal of summer.
Mediterraneo, 2008
Phillips London: 6 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 368,300 / USD 467,004
Salvo – 20th Century & Contemporary Art… Lot 4 March 2024 | Phillips
SALVO
Mediterraneo, 2008
Oil on burlap
130.5 x 99.7 cm (51 3/8 x 39 1/4 inches)
Signed, titled and indistinctly inscribed ‘Salvo “mediterraneo”’ on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under number N.S2008-55
At once magnetic and energetic, ablaze with a smooth, luminous intensity, in Mediterraneo Salvo reconsiders the landscape genre through bold form and candied hues. As embers of orange and yellow smoulder against the emerald green ground, Salvo’s vision offers respite and solitude: a view of the Mediterranean that exudes warmth and eludes time.
Known for his surreal visions of the natural world, Salvo (or Salvatore Mangione) was born on the 22nd May 1947 in Leonforte, Italy. Having spent his early childhood in Sicily, by 1956 Salvo’s family had relocated to Turin. A precocious draughtsman, Salvo’s talent was quickly recognised. By sixteen, his work was shown at the 121st exhibition of the Società Promotrice di Belle Arti. Four years later, Salvo had his first solo exhibition at Gian Enzo Sperone’s gallery, and began working in new, unexpected ways. Emboldened by Arte Povera’s rebellious energy and unconventional mediums, Salvo soon was associated with key members of the movement in Turin like Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz and Gilberto Zorio. It was therefore through photography, text and projects like his Lapidi (a take on the Duchamp’s readymade in the form of marble tombstones) that developed Salvo’s early creative practice.
Carlo Carrà, A Pine by the Sea, 1921, Private Collection. Image: GRANGER – Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo, Artwork: © DACS 2024
Yet, in a radical departure, by 1973 Salvo once again returned to the unfashionable medium of painting: a move that initiated a four-decade long dialogue between Salvo and the brush, representation and abstraction. In Mediterraneo, though the natural elements are familiar, Salvo subverts the traditional rules of perspective, eradicating brushstrokes and realizing form through rich, saturated color: a style that resembles Pittura Metafisica of Giorgio de Chirico or Carlo Carrà. Therefore, at its core Salvo’s painting considers the irreproducible nature of reality, that remains intangible, unstable and individualized even when immortalized through paint. Simultaneously, personal and biographical elements inform Salvo’s landscapes. In Mediterraneo, Salvo records vegetation like cypress, palm and pine trees, native to his homeland, with clear attributes proportional to the space. Moreover, the vivid colors, however extreme, can be found in a Mediterranean seascape. Salvo in this way vacillates between fact and fiction, admitting ‘I behave towards Copenhagen, which I have not visited, in the same way that I behave towards Palermo, which I have: they are two possible directions’. Between the frontiers of ‘real’ and ‘imagined’, the process of painting remains as integral to Salvo as the subject itself. In a rare interview, Salvo stated frankly that painting is ‘a very passionate thing for me […] I don’t really know where to start’. Though completed towards the end of his life, Mediterraneo highlights the vitality and exuberance still part of Salvo’s later painterly practice: a fresh, chromatic play where light remains the true protagonist.
Untitled, 1985
Christie’s London: 7 March 2024
Estimated: GBP 100,000 – 150,000
GBP 176,400 / USD 223,675
SALVO (1947-2015), Untitled | Christie’s (christies.com)
SALVO (1947-2015)
Untitled, 1985
Oil on jute
202×115 cm (79 1/2 x 45 1/4 inches)
Signed and dated ‘Salvo 85’ (lower right)
Towering two meters tall, Untitled (1985) captures a beguiling scene shielded from the passage of time—one that is accentuated by the Italian artist Salvo’s celebrated saturated palette and elemental forms. Salvo’s paintings emerge more from dreams and memory than reality. Here, in a wash of primaveral sunshine, the warm Mediterranean landscape is populated with ancient Greek ruins: a man-made subject that preoccupied the artist after his travels through Greece, Yugoslavia and Turkey. Candy-floss clouds drift through the translucent sky, punctuated by meandering pines and the cusps of sculpted cypresses. Doric columns, radiant undergrowth and tomb-like rocks interrupt our view of a distant blue bay. Relating to his cycle of Rovine (Ruins), one of which Salvo had shown at the 41st Venice Biennale in 1984, the work is an elegant example of the artist’s life-long interest in metaphysics and the search for selfhood in nature. It has been shown in a number of important exhibitions in its lifetime, including Boetti / Salvo: Living, Working, Playing, a 2017 presentation at MASI Lugano that examined Salvo’s practice alongside that of his friend, Alighiero Boetti.
A devoted explorer who spent much of his life travelling and capturing the astonishing beauty of his homeland, Salvo was initially known as a conceptual artist. Born Salvatore Mangione to an indigent family in rural Sicily in 1947, he relocated to industrial Turin as an adolescent and at first supported himself by selling life paintings and copies of Old Masters. The young Salvo eventually emerged as a member of the burgeoning Arte Povera movement in the late 1960s alongside leading figures like Mario Merz, Giuseppe Penone and Boetti—the latter of whom he shared a studio with. Salvo’s practice during these formative years was distinctly conceptual and based largely in text and photography. It was not until 1973 that he turned to figurative painting and placed color at the core of his practice. This drastic change in style—characterized by highly saturated, phantasmagorical landscapes without a human trace—followed the metaphysical avenue of Giorgio de Chirico, whom Salvo deeply admired. In the present work, Salvo has simplified each element of landscape to the extreme. Architectural structures are reduced to their principal geometric solids; the greenery and clouds are fashioned in stylized, elementary volumes. This singular visual language would persist throughout Salvo’s practice. His distilled pictorial idiom not only shares in the ethereal spirit of de Chirico’s works, but also brings to mind Giorgio Morandi’s meticulous, silent still lifes, which similarly engage in a quest for the essential through objects. The present work is a thoughtful synthesis of references, aesthetics and subjects from the past, while also establishing its own timeless, boundless painterly quality—an escapist fantasy that manifests the pleasure of painting for painting’s sake.
Il villaggio, 2014
Sotheby’s Milan: 22 November 2023
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 254,000 / USD 276,860
Il villaggio | Contemporary Auction | 2023 | Sotheby’s (sothebys.com)
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
Il villaggio, 2014
Oil on canvas
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin, under the no. S2014-56
“The mystery and openness of Salvo’s work lie in its relationship with the pictorial subject. The lofty genre, of archaeological memory, of ruins or the landscape motif, exotic places or urban glimpses, or even still lives, exhibit an astonishing normality, openly denouncing their own belonging to an ordinary world. The pictorial subject is almost unremarkable, sometimes it is addressed beforehand, even before the actual viewing of a place, or afterwards, by memory: it is declined countless times and yet it is almost absent in its bulky and reiterated presence.
Salvo’s adherence to figuration, his involvement with verisimilitude, does admittedly reveal a kind of disregard towards the subject that is merely an opportunity to explore the potentiality of painting and bring the enigma of seeing closer every day.
Siciliani
28 siciliani più un mistero, 2014
Sotheby’s Milan: 27 May 2026
Estimated: EUR 100,000 – 150,000
EUR 204,800 / USD 238,175
Salvo | 28 siciliani più un mistero | Modern and Contemporary Art |
SALVO (1947 – 2015)
28 siciliani più un mistero, 2014
Oil and collage on canvas
150×200 cm (59×79 inches)
Signed and titled on the reverse
Registered in the Archivio Salvo, Turin under no. 2014-61
From the early 2000s, Salvo’s work reached a point of radical equilibrium. His intellectual inquiry shifted toward a seamless fusion of linguistic analysis and a chromatic rendering that evokes suspended, otherworldly atmospheres. At this stage of his career, the artist revisited the theme of the Italian masters: what was once an ordered sequence of names is now transformed into a vibrant structure, where pure color and luminosity take center stage. While in the 1970s the conceptual component led Salvo to engrave headstones in which the word retained a sculptural weight, in this phase we witness a true dematerialization. The names of historical artists lose their function as simple textual references to evolve into the supporting elements of a monumental chromatic narrative.
The canvas does not merely celebrate an artistic lineage; it acts as a catalyst that transmutes the passage of historical time into a pulsating visual space. Through the masterful use of tonal contrasts and a thick, pasty application of pigment, Salvo instills in his painting a solemnity that transcends the verbal datum, transforming the identity of the “name” into a sacred icon beyond time. At the same time, his body of work was enriched by a return to his roots. Alongside the themes of still lifes and landscapes, the figure of Sicily re-emerged. The island is no longer just a geographical location, but is elevated to a universal symbol, reinterpreted through a fresh visual language charged with vital energy.
31 Siciliani, 1976
Christie’s Paris: 24 October 2025
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 70,000
EUR 76,200 / USD 88,585
Salvo (1947-2015), 31 Siciliani | Christie’s
SALVO (1947-2015)
31 Siciliani, 1976
Oil and enamel on panel
48.8 x 70 cm (19 1/4 x 27 1/2 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ”’31 siciliani” 1976 Salvo’ (on the reverse)
Registered with l’Archivio Salvo, Turin under No. S1976-22
From the collection of Alessandro Grassi, 31 Siciliani (1976) is emblematic of Salvo’s vibrant, expansive oeuvre, demonstrating the evolution of the artist’s practice from his early text-based works to the phantasmagorical landscapes for which he is best known. In 31 Siciliani (1976) the geographical outline of Sicily is overlaid with the names of the island’s most prominent historical figures.
Born Salvatore Mangione in rural Sicily in 1947, towards the end of the 1960s Salvo moved to Turin, where he became a key figure in the city’s Arte Povera movement alongside leading figures like Mario Merz, Giuseppe Penone and Alighiero Boetti. He shared a studio with the latter, and like Boetti, Salvo exploited the slipperiness of language, revealing it to be both playful and pliable. His early work included photomontages and marble plaques carved with witty inscriptions or his own name. 31 Siciliani is part of a series of works which look to Sicily’s historical figures of renown. Amongst others, it pays homage to ancient Greek poets Theocritus and Stesichorus, Arab poet Ibn Ḥamdīs, Quattrocento painter Antonello da Messina, composers Alessandro Scarlatti and Vincenzo Bellini, and Salvo himself, weaving their names into a cartography of the land executed in vibrant tones of yellow and fiery orange.
Against the prevailing dominance of conceptual art across the 1970s, Salvo’s decisive turn to figurative landscape painting was inspired by the metaphysical streetscapes of Giorgio de Chirico. Like de Chirico, Salvo conjured dreamlike tableaus articulated through distilled form and deeply saturated colour, forging a visual language of space and place. He reduced architecture and its surrounding nature to essential geometric form, like the quivering vessels in still lifes by Giorgio Morandi. The uncanny slippage between recognisable objects and otherworldly hues also recalls the visionary landscapes of Henri Rousseau. ‘I could be considered as pertaining to that category of artists who express themselves through rapture’, Salvo said. ‘I cannot help but believe in the existence of occult forces which, while the painter sleeps, enter the painting itself and correct and improve it’ (Salvo, quoted in Salvo: Paintings 1975-1987, exh. cat. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam 1987, p. 27). Works such as Paesaggio welcome the viewer into Salvo’s spellbinding painted world.