At the recent Frieze art fair in London, Italian mid-twentieth century work moved briskly. Sotheby’s Italian and Contemporary sales broke records, including the highest price ever paid for the work of Piero Manzoni, whose “Achrome” sold for £12.6 million. Several galleries focusing on Italian art of the 1950s and 1960s recently opened in London and Paris. Some have suggested that the rising amount of sales activity in Italian mid-century work is driven, at least in part, by pressure exerted by Italian laws restricting the export of art. The Art Newspaper recently reported that “[d]ealers and collectors are rushing to export works from Italy before they fall under the restrictions. . . . The number of works by Arte Povera artists (such as Alberto Burri, Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz and Michelangelo Pistoletto) sold at auction has grown from 35 in 1997 to nearly 300 in 2013.” Of course, increased auction sales reflect changing tastes and collector interests, but the looming effect of export restriction casts a long shadow over the Arte Povera works held in both public and private collections in Italy.      …
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