Rapporto di un nottambulo

Details

Carlo Carrà (1881-1966)
Rapporto di un nottambulo
signed 'Carrà' (lower right)
pen and ink and pencil on paper
17 7/8 x 11 in. (37.7 x 27.8 cm.)
Drawn in Milan in 1914

Provenance

Private collection, Bologna, by 1977.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 4 December 1984, lot 208.
Private collection, California.
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 10 December 1993, lot 15.
Private collection, Japan, by whom acquired at the above sale.

Literature

F. Russoli & M. Carrá (ed.), Carrá, Disegni, Bologna, 1977, no. 98, p. 159 (illustrated).

Exhibited

Bologna, Galleria La Casa dell'Arte, Carla Carrà, February - April 1981, p. 69 (illustrated).

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Jessica Brook

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Lot Essay

This lively example of concrete poetry features elements in Italian, English and French arranged - in Futurist fashion - like the spokes of a wheel. The Futurist mathematics in the lower left corner are particularly striking: '2 carabinieri, 2 strozzini, 11 ruffiani, 15 puttane, 7 imbecilli, 3 giornalisti italiani + 1 inglese, 1 pittore + 2 pederati. totale 44 notamboli Milano Centro'. The work also includes some typical Futurist sound play such as 'Contessa Prrrrrrrrr', 'MerrrrrrrDE' and 'Corriere della Seeeeraaaaa'.

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