The World's Largest Modern & Contemporary Prints & Editions Platform

Mario
Schifano

Mario Schifano, a pivotal figure in post-war Italian art, revolutionised the visual language with his Pop Art sensibility and innovative use of media. If you’re looking for Mario Schifano original prints and editions for sale or would like to sell, request a complimentary valuation and browse our network’s most in-demand works.

Mario Schifano art for sale

Discover Mario Schifano prints for sale, exclusively available through our private network of collectors. Explore signed and unsigned screenprints, lithographs, digital prints, and rare editioned proof prints by era-defining blue chip artists.

x

Sell Your Art
with Us

Join Our Network of Collectors. Buy, Sell and Track Demand

Submission takes less than 2 minutes & there's zero obligation to sell
The Only Dedicated Print Market IndexTracking 48,500 Auction HistoriesSpecialist Valuations at the Click of a Button Build Your PortfolioMonitor Demand & Supply in Network Sell For Free to our 25,000 Members

Biography

Born in Homs, Libya, in 1934, Schifano's early life was marked by relocation to Rome, where the cultural vibrancy of post-war Italy would heavily shape his artistic trajectory. Displaying a penchant for art from a young age, Schifano immersed himself in the raw and dynamic Roman art scene. His formal education, although sporadic, was complemented by his autodidactic pursuit of knowledge in the arts, leading to an early career defined by experimentation and self-discovery.

Schifano's artistic development saw him traverse through various movements and styles, initially influenced by the gestural strokes of Abstract Expressionism. However, it was his embrace of Pop Art that distinguished his work, as he incorporated commercial imagery, brand logos, and media references into his canvases. His critical engagement with consumer culture and mass media led to the creation of provocative and compelling works that reflected the zeitgeist of the 1960s and 70s.


Throughout his career, Schifano's work was punctuated by key periods of innovation. His Monochrome series, which began in the late 1950s, focused on the use of single colours and was a harbinger of Minimalism. Moving into the 1960s, his Anemone series channelled the energy of Pop Art through vividly coloured, flower-like shapes that vibrated against monochromatic backgrounds. Schifano's adoption of enamel and acrylic paints, along with unconventional materials like Perspex and aluminium foil, further distinguished his artistic voice.

Schifano's collaborations with other contemporary artists and intellectuals, along with his engagement with the burgeoning counter-culture, played pivotal roles in his creative evolution. His work was influenced by his interactions with members of the Italian art collective Gruppo 63, and the Arte Povera movement, though he never fully assimilated into any one group.

The artist's major exhibitions and achievements are numerous, but notably, his participation in the Venice Biennale in 1964, 1978, 1982, and 1994 along with a retrospective at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, underscored his prominence in the art world. Schifano's legacy is one of an unyielding exploration of the visual language and its capacity to encapsulate and critique the society of his time.

Mario Schifano's art remains a vital part of contemporary dialogue, his works continuing to challenge and inspire new generations. His passage through various art movements and his relentless pursuit of expressive freedom have left an indelible mark on the landscape of Italian and international art.

A painting with two vertical, large, white rectangular forms with soft corners outlined in vivid red, set against a textured white background, with visible drips and textured brushwork. The forms meet in the centre of the canvas, the left taking up the entire left half and the right taking up just over half of the right side.

Tempo Moderno © Mario Schifano 1962

1. £1.6M for Mario Schifano's Tempo Moderno

Tempo Moderno (1962) achieved Schifano's current auction record when it sold at Sotheby's Paris in October 2022, far exceeding its high estimate of €1.2 million. This enamel work exemplifies Schifano's early 1960s style, with its striking composition of two large red oblongs dividing up a textured, dripping white background. The work's title, "Modern Time," references the rapid modernisation and cultural shifts of early 1960s Italy, as the country embraced consumerism. The bold, geometric composition engages with contemporary advertising aesthetics, though Schifano’s visible brushwork and thick paint drips create humanising imperfections. The work, therefore, sits at the intersection of abstraction and Pop Art - a place Schifano occupied for much of his career. Its provenance includes the prestigious Studio Marconi in Milan, a gallery that played a crucial role in promoting Italian contemporary art during the 1960s and 1970s.

A geometric composition divided into four sections: white, black, and red vertical thirds, with a thick, horizontal gold strip across the bottom, each painted with visible enamel drips, rough, expressive edges, and a fine inner outline in gold.

La Stanza Dei Disegni © Mario Schifano 1962

2. £914,619 for Mario Schifano's La Stanza Dei Disegni

La Stanza Dei Disegni (The Drawing Room) (1962) sold at Christie's Paris in October 2022. Created in 1962, this geometric gridded composition features a vibrant colour palette of black, red, and white enamel paint applied to paper, which was then laid down on canvas. It reflects Schifano's interest in the aesthetics of commercial advertising prevalent in early 1960s Rome, combining geometric abstraction with elements reminiscent of colour field painting. The title suggests a space for artistic creation, possibly referencing Schifano's own studio environment during this prolific period. The painting's impressive provenance includes Studio Marconi in Milan, Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa, and Galleria Rondanini in Rome - all significant institutions in the promotion of contemporary Italian art. The exceptional sales result, combined with the record-breaking sale of Tempo Moderno (1962) in the same month, confirms the particularly strong market appeal of Schifano's early 1960s works, especially those featuring his distinctive approach to colour, composition, and materials.

A stark, minimalist painting featuring a nearly all-black surface with a subtle, central vertical seam, evoking the look of a blank billboard. The letter A is printed in white in the centre of the left side, and the letter B on the right.

Cartello © Mario Schifano 1960

3. £714,247 for Mario Schifano's Cartello

Cartello (1960), the title of which translates to “Billboard,” achieved this result in an online Sotheby's auction in Italy in November 2021. This large enamel painting represents an important transition point between Schifano's early Monocromi series and his subsequent engagement with advertising imagery. The work presents a predominantly black field that suggests the emptiness of an unused billboard - a commentary on the increasing presence of commercial imagery in the urban landscape of post-war Italy. The painting's title directly references the advertising structures that were reshaping Italian society in the 1960s, both visually and socially. Schifano's interest in these commercial spaces preceded his more explicit appropriations of corporate logos like Coca-Cola and Esso, positioning Cartello (1960) as a conceptual bridge between abstraction and Pop Art.

A large, beige-brown canvas painted with rough white brushstrokes that cover most of the surface apart from a section along the base. Lines have been carved into the white paint, suggesting a rocky hillside and the layers of earth underneath. The uppermost area is labelled “CIELO” in simple capital letters, then the section below is labelled “ALBERI,” then “TERRA,” and then “GRANDE PARTICOLARE” on the exposed brown canvas section.

Grande Particolare © Mario Schifano 1963