Lucio Fontana's La Fine de Dio sets new artist record

Lucio Fontana's La Fine de Dio has set a new artist record, at Sotheby's.

The lot led a sale of post-war Italian art in London on October 15 with a sale price of £15.9m ($24.7m).

Lucio Fontana Sothebys
Lucio Fontana's La Fine de Dio set a new record for an Italian post-war work of art

That's a 21.3% increase on the artist's previous record, set at £13.1m ($20.2m) in 2013.

It's also a new record for a piece of post-war Italian art.

The work is a unique egg-shaped variant of his iconic "slash" paintings.

The sale also featured a work from Alberto Burri, whose Bianco Plastica 1 took second place with a £2.6m ($4m) final bid.

Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in London, comments: "Over 10,000 visitors crowded our galleries for our Frieze Week exhibitions - and this excitement carried through into a packed saleroom.

"When we first introduced a dedicated Italian Sale to London in 1999, the entire sale made £5.2m, tonight we've seen a single work make three times this amount.

"The energy we saw in the room for both sales; the bidding from every corner of the globe; the appetite for both young and established artists - it all came together here in London tonight."

Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about art and photography auctions.

Featured products

Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Elvis Presley Authentic Strand of Hair
Sale price£399
In stock
Fidel Castro signed certificateFidel Castro Signed Certificate
Fidel Castro signed certificate
Sale price£2,995
In stock
King Henry VIII Autographed DocumentKing Henry VIII Autographed Document
King Henry VIII Autographed Document
Sale price£55,000
In stock