Is demand for Salvo’s painting sustainable?

Much to almost everyone’s surprise, Salvo was among the 10 top-selling Contemporary artists this past year. Was it just a rogue wave or will the demand be sustained?  

After 3 years of uninterrupted progress in the auction sphere, Salvo’s paintings are capturing a new audience in search of freshness and originality. This past year, his annual auction turnover rivaled those of stars like BANKSY (1974) and Richard PRINCE (1949). His paintings of relatively simple shapes and surreal landscapes have clearly influenced some major Contemporary artists, who by citing their influences, have contributed to his success with collectors.

Summary:

1. A sharp increase in demand since 2021
2. Is it sustainable?
3. What has underpinned the new demand?
4. Salvo’s art

1. A sharp increase in demand since 2021

Just 3 years ago the Italian artist SALVO (1947-2015) (Salvatore Mangione) ranked 1,094th in our general ranking (all periods combined) of artist’s by their annual auction turnover. This year, he has ranked 65th for the first half of 2024. In short, Salvo has made a spectacular ascension on the auction market, and was even among the 10 top-selling Contemporary artists with approximately USD 10 million worth of artworks sold at auction since the start of the year.

Salvo’s position in our global ranking of artists

(All periods of creation combined, classified according to their annual auction turnover totals)

 

Between 2021 and 2022, 164 Salvo lots were sold at auction. In 2023, no less than 180 of his works changed hands at auction. This year, the momentum has continued to accelerate, with 164 sales already recorded between January and mid-September.

2023 was an exceptional year: Salvo’s auction turnover grew by 602%, exceeding 10 million dollars. It was his highest annual total since his works were first sold at auction.

The million mark reached last year in Hong Kong

In 2023, Salvo’s auction record was renewed several times, reaching above $1 million for the first time in November for his Mattino (The Morning) (1994), an imposing canvas measuring 205 x 327 cm.

With that result, Salvo made a spectacular entry into the Hong Kong market, Mattino being his first-ever work sold there. The painting reached $1.1 million, triple its high estimate, and above all, $1 million more than its acquisition price in 2009 at Sotheby’s in Milan.

Salvo’s success on the Hong Kong market was largely fuelled by another artist, Nicolas PARTY (1980), whose paintings presents an obvious stylistic relationship. Nicolas Party’s work is particularly popular with Asian collectors who have driven up his prices in Hong Kong. His works have fetched around ten 7-digit results there, including a record of $6.6 million in 2022. These results, along with Party’s confessed admiration of Salvo’s work, appear to have opened an avenue for Salvo’s work on this market too.

Evolution of Salvo’s price index

 

2. Is it sustainable?

Global demand

Originally from Italy, Salvo is now famous all over the world. His works are sought after in France, the United States, China and even South Korea.

But the surge in demand is very recent. Before 2023, his works were rarely offered outside Italy. Today, his market is experiencing a classic internationalization.

Geographical distribution of Salvo’s turnover since 2021

 

Salvo is selling well, but demand for Nicolas Party’s work has contracted.

Nothing is going well for Nicolas Party in Hong Kong: the three works offered this year all failed to sell.

Conversely, Salvo’s works have continued to seduce buyers. Since January, none of his works has remained unsold, all selling successfully in the following price ranges:

• Between $10,000 and $20,000 for small formats measuring less than 20 cm
• Between $50,000 and $90,000 for a 50 cm canvas
• Between $80,000 and $250,000 for a 1-meter canvas
• Between $120,000 and $500,000 for a painting of approximately 2 meters

The secret of Salvo’s relative success versus Party’s may well be the relative cost. Salvo’s works are often ten times cheaper than Party’s large paintings which were being presented with estimates from $2 to 4 million.

The number 1 artist in Italy

The Italian market is taking full advantage of Salvo’s global success thanks to its abundant supply. In just nine months (January to mid-September), 111 works have sold generating a total of $5 million, and making Salvo the top-selling artist in Italy this year.

Salvo’s auction turnover in Italy has surpassed those of legends like Lucio FONTANA (1899-1968) and even Giorgio DE CHIRICO (1888-1978), who was a major inspiration for Salvo.

Geography of Salvo’s auction turnover since the start of 2024

• 41% in Italy from 68% of the works sold
• 22% in the UK from 10% of the works sold
• 15% in the United States from 6.7% of the works sold
• 9% in Hong Kong from 4% of the works sold

 

3. What has underpinned the new demand

The growing recognition that Salvo enjoyed in Europe in the early 1980s earned him his participation in the 41st Venice Biennale in 1984 and several institutional exhibitions in Europe over the following decades, culminating in a major retrospective at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin in 2007.

The increase in his prices results from other factors: a combination of excellent strategic management of his estate, contemporary influences, greater visibility at art fairs, exhibitions and on social networks.

The strategic management of his assets

Since Salvo’s death in 2015, the creation of the Archivio Salvo has played a crucial role in preserving and promoting his artistic legacy. This organization has orchestrated several prestigious exhibitions which have sparked new interest in his work, particularly in the United States and Europe.

The influence of younger Contemporary artists

Renowned Contemporary artists like Nicolas Party and Jonathan MONK (1969) have incorporated elements of Salvo’s style into their own works, which has helped to redefine and popularize Salvo’s aesthetic. This recognition by influential figures has brought Salvo out of his relative obscurity, raising demand and the market value of his works.

Social networks

Younger audiences have discovered and shared Salvo’s works on social media, enhancing his notoriety and attracting a new set of collectors. This social dynamic has amplified global interest in his works.

Exhibitions and presence at art fairs

The increased visibility of Salvo’s works at major art fairs as well as exhibitions at prestigious galleries has also boosted demand. In spring 2023, the Gladstone gallery devoted an exhibition to his conceptual work in New York, while the Emmanuel Perrotin gallery paid homage to his colorful paintings at its gallery on Avenue Matignon in Paris. On both sides of the Atlantic, two major galleries spanned Salvo’s entire career. In the spring of 2024, Salvo’s works were notably successfully exhibited by the Mazzoleni gallery at Art Basel Hong Kong.

4. Salvo’s art

An emblematic figure of the Italian conceptual scene, Salvo was born in Sicily in 1947 and moved with his family to Turin in the mid-1950s. From his teenage years he immersed himself in painting, copying masters such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh. At just 16 years old, he exhibited at the Società Promotrice delle Belle Arti. He quickly became familiar with the vibrant artistic scene in Turin, particularly in the Arte Povera group, led by artists like Mario MERZ (1925-2003) and Michelangelo PISTOLETTO (1933).

In the 1960s, Salvo adopted an avant-garde and ironic approach, creating self-portraits, engraved marbles and neon lights that all refer to his self-proclaimed alter ego “Salvo”. He forged a close artistic and friendly relationship with Alighiero BOETTI (1940-1994), sharing a studio with him until 1971.

After a very conceptual initial phase, during which he came into contact with renowned American artists like Joseph KOSUTH (1945) and Sol LEWITT (1928-2007), he effected a radical change of direction in 1973 by turning to figurative painting.

He started creating paintings with simplified shapes and dreamlike landscapes, recalling the surreal scenes of Giorgio de Chirico, whom he deeply admired. His colorful landscapes also influenced Contemporary artists like Nicolas Party, whose works have enjoyed phenomenal success in recent years.

“I have always liked the ambiguous aspect of things: the false naivety, the false primitivism, because everything that is apparently intelligent and technical, I find boring. It leaves no mystery.” —Salvo

As Salvo’s works appear to have escaped the kind of intense speculative buying that affected Nicolas Party’s market, his prices should stabilize in a sustainable manner. His international influence, reinforced by the support of influential galleries like Gladstone and Perrotin, suggests a solid price trajectory for the future.

The Future!

Discover the other rising stars on the global art market in our 2024 Annual Report on the Contemporary and Ultra-Contemporary Art Market, to be released on 8 October 2024.