Time.news – A cast of Antonio Canova was auctioned off for a record price of one million and 228 thousand euros, figure six times higher than the base which was 200-300 thousand euros. The work ‘Cupid and Psyche standing‘ was part of Veneto Banca’s collection of works of art and furnishings put together by the former CEO Vincenzo Consoli and which the liquidators had to auction off after the bankruptcy of the Treviso institute.
Bought in 2004, the plaster statue welcomed visitors in the business district: now the proceeds from the sale will go to the Bank’s privileged creditors. The final price represents the world record for a plaster by Canova and the fourth most important result ever for one of his sculptures (the first three are all related to marbles: Sotheby’s London 5 million in 2018, Christie’s Paris 3.7 million in 2017 and Hotel de Ventes Monte-Carlo 2 million in 2019).
Even the marble Dancer was surpassed, awarded in Vienna by Dorotheum in 2019 for one million and 148 thousand euros. The figure of one million and 228 thousand euros doubles the previous Italian auction record for a work by Canova, the 602,000 euros of the plaster “Gruppo Venere e Adone”, sold in 1999.
The result is even more exceptional considering that the plaster, executed under the supervision of the Venetian artist whose bicentenary of death occurs, had been bound by the state due to its exceptional cultural importance and therefore could not be purchased from abroad.
For transparency, the work has been presented as ‘of invention’, that is the result of the collaboration of the Venetian genius (inventor) with the plaster casts Malpieri and Torrenti (performers of the work under his direction).
The plaster by the sculptor from Possagno, in the Treviso area, dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century: the measurements are 149×67.5×62 cm (but over two meters with the original base that accompanies it from when it was exhibited in Canova’s studio). The marble work – from which this plaster is taken – was made by Canova in 1796-1797 and was later bought by Joachim Murat, to enter the collections of the Louvre.
Canova called this type of plaster cast “good shape”, i.e. carved from marble, and had them made for promotional purposes for his works. The sale was handled by the Roman auction house Bonino, which has already handled the sale of the works of art and furnishings of the Veneto Banca subsidiary in Romania.