Enrico Castellani
1930-2017 · Italian · Azimut, ZERO, Minimalism
Biography
Enrico Castellani studied art and architecture in Brussels and co-founded the Azimut gallery and review with Piero Manzoni in Milan in 1959. From that year he made the Superfici: monochrome canvases stretched over a grid of nails so that the surface rises and sinks in regular rhythms of light and shadow. He pursued this single idea for almost sixty years, in white, black, red, silver and aluminium, and is now seen as a European forerunner of Minimalism and a central member of the ZERO network. Donald Judd praised him early. His market boomed between 2010 and 2018 together with Fontana and Bonalumi. Prices have since cooled, but early 1960s Superfici remain sought after.
Recent auction results
| Superficie bianca (1959)Sotheby's, Londra | $188K | Mar 5, 2026 | heni.com |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superficie alluminio (2001)Christie's, Parigi | $206K | Oct 24, 2025 | heni.com |
Market
- Liquidity: Medium
Museums
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
- Centre Pompidou, Parigi
- Museo del Novecento, Milano
Sources
- Masterworks, Enrico Castellani
- Curating the Contemporary, Sotheby's Italian Sale 2014
- HENI News, profilo Enrico Castellani
- HENI News, Superficie bianca marzo 2026
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