Aligi Sassu

Sale 75 Lot 1382 ALIGI SASSU (Italian, 1912-2000). THREE HORSES (TRE CAVILLI0 ), signed lower right. Circa 1960. Oil on canvas - Framed, 22 � in. x 27 3/4 in. Estimate $20,000-35,000 This painting depicts one red (rosso), two white (bianco) horses, prancing or cavorting (impennarsi) in a field (prato).

Aligi Sassu (Italian, 1912-1941) Il Cavallo e la Sfinge signed 'SASSU' (lower right); signed twice, titled and dated 'Aligi Sassu/ 1959/ Il Cavallo e la Sfinge/ SASSU' (on the reverse) oil on canvas 50 x 59cm (19 11/16 x 23 1/4in). Painted in 1959 PROVENANCE Studio A - Ente Fiuggi - A.T.A., Fiuggi. Galleria d'Arte Tosetti, Prato. Galleria del Girasole, Udine. EXHIBITED Fiuggi, Studio A - Ente Fiuggi - A.T.A., I rassegna internazionale di Pittura contemporanea , 1 August - 10 September 1964, no.37. The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the Archivio Aligi Sassu. Sassu's interest in mythology becomes apparent in his pictorial vocabulary from the early 1930s. However, his referencing of mythological imagery was always tempered by a connection with reality and lived human experience. This dynamic was paralleled in the artist's general approach since, despite his mythological interests, he was an active participant in politics and the artistic debates of the day, including the Futurist movement with its preoccupation with the dynamism of the modern world. According to ancient Greek tradition, the sphinx was a demon with the body of a lion, the head of a woman, the wings of a bird and the tail of a snake, set to guard the entrance of the city of Thebes. In Il Cavallo e la Sfinge , Sassu depicts this ominous creature as a counterpoint to the powerful and vigorous wild horse which challenges the demon on behalf of the petrified man lying prone at her feet. The motif of the horse is used repeatedly by Sassu, and often appears in his paintings as a protagonist representing raw human spirit unfettered by social and historical constraints.

Aligi Sassu (Milan 1912–2000 Mallorca) ‘Bianchi destrieri’’’’’’’’, signed Sassu, titled on the reverse, signed and dated Aligi Sassu 1976, oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm, framed, (PP) Photo certificate from the artist Provenance: Galleria Brerarte, Milan; Galleria ‘Lo Scalino’’’’’’’’, Rome; Galleria D’’’’’’’’Arte ‘La Cornice’’’’’’’’, Parma; private collection, Italy Specialist: Mag. Patricia Pálffy

Lot # 236 Aligi Sassu 1912 - 2000 Italian Horse bronze sculpture signed and editioned PA 6/20 and on verso inscribed "ABI" 6 3/8 x 6 x 2 1/4 in 16.2 x 15.2 x 5.7cm Provenance: Private Collection, Vancouver This sculpture is on a marble base that measures 2 x 3 3/4 5 3/8inches. Estimate: $1,000 ~ $2,000 CAD Preview at: Heffel Fine Art Auction House Vancouver

743. Aligi Sassu (Italian, b. 1912), "Portrait of a Boy in a Red Cap", c.1945; oil/canvas, 20" x 16", signed. Italian painter, printmaker and sculptor. The son of the Sardinian Socialist Antonio Sassu, he was largely self-taught. At the age of only sixteen, Sassu exhibited the geometrized "Man Drinking at the Spring" at the Venice Biennale of 1928 and participated in Futurist exhibitions. Around 1930, with Raffaele de Grada and Renato Birolli, he was influenced by the idealist aesthetics of Edoardo Persico. As a result, Sassu opposed Novecento classicism with a loose, painterly treatment of intensely coloured figures. His series alternated between the archaizing nudes of "Red Men" and the contemporary life of "Caffè" (the latter was painted in Paris, where he exhibited in 1934 with Francis Gruber and Fiorenzo Tomea) He also met Léger, Magnelli and de Pisis in the mid 1930s. 8000-10,000