ROBERTO RIDA, A GLASS ALCHEMIST AT BONHAMS IN PARIS ON 12 MARCH 2025
Paris - Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr is pleased to announce the auction of exceptional works by Roberto Rida on 12 March 2025 in Paris. This sale will offer at auction approximately one hundred pieces of furniture and objects directly from the artist's studio in Milan. A figure of twentieth-century Italian design, known for his visionary work on glass and light, Roberto Rida welcomes us via this sale to his Milan studio in the Navigli district. Mirrors, lamps, consoles, cabinets and screens inlaid with pieces of cut glass catch the visitor's eye. A man of culture, Rida has constantly sought to make a transition between past, present and future by reusing pieces of discarded glass, which he either polishes or leave as they are, to make something new. A visionary artist, Roberto Rida, creates new pieces without sketching and gives birth to unique works, completed by hand without preparatory work.
ROBERTO GIULIO RIDA (born in 1943) Paravent Hubble 9 000, 2018 Unique piece in collaboration with Simone Crestani brass, wood and glass Estimate: €20,000 – 30,000
“This exceptional sale in Paris is an opportunity to discover the work of an extremely gifted artist who has spent his life working with glass and reinterpreting it in personal forms. His work has been exhibited in Europe but also in the United States, where his creations are collected by many lovers of glass and contemporary design.”
Oristano chest of drawers from the optical series, 2017 Unique piece tinted glass, lacquered wood and brass Estimate: €10,000 – 15,000
Heracles dresser, 2017 Unique piece from the 'Hubble' series patinated brass, walnut and Murano tinted glass Estimate: €25,000 – 30,000
Unique brass and glass 'Foglia Venini Tyra' table lamp in brass by Roberto Giulio Rida in 2016 and glass by Tyra Ludgren for Venini circa 1970-1975 Estimate: €1,500 – 2,500
“I have spent my life acting. Art is my playground and glass is my toy. Offering my creations at auction is a turning point that will allow me to pass them on to new collectors, who will be able to benefit from them in turn.”
Born in 1943 in Milan, Roberto Giulio Rida drew from an early age. His aunt, a cultured woman and artist, took him to visit museums, churches and historical monuments. A student at the Brera Academy, he proved to be gifted and on his return from his military service, he settled in Venice as an antique dealer. Close to the historic epicentre of glass production in Europe, he met the masters of Murano who taught him the glass trade for eight years.
In 1973, he returned to Milan where he specialized in the decorative arts of the twentieth century. At the same time, he began to create lighting and furniture dressed, covered or inlaid with glass and crystal. In fact, as an antique dealer, Rida has for many years amassed Italian glass elements from the 1900s to the 1950s, from the most important manufactories: Barovier & Toso, Fontana Arte, Venini and Seguso, an important manufactory in Murano. He would then polish, cut, face, and cut these elements to include them in contemporary lighting and furniture, which he designed himself. These exceptional glasses are thus given a new lease of life, combining the traditional know-how of the great Murano manufactures with the contemporary spirit of Rida's designs. References to Italian heritage and culture are omnipresent in his work and there are nods to ancient architecture and fashion.
Interior designers such as Laurence Graf or Gianni Versace were admirers of Rida's work. Peter Marino too, since he would go on to buy the Argo console at auction to exhibit it in Chanel's flagship store in London. Rida has also collaborated with Milanese artists such as Alessandro Guerriero in 2011 and Simone Crestani in 2018.
Among the highlights that will be offered for sale, is a large golden screen composed of a wooden structure with glass inclusions entitled Hubble 9 000. This unique piece was made in brass, wood and glass by Roberto Giulio Rida in collaboration with Simone Crestani in 2018 (estimate: €20,0000-30,000).
Solo exhibitions of the artist:
2020 : Duetto: Roberto Rida & Simone Crestani at Bernd Goeckler, New York
2019 : Roberto Giulio Rida The Glass Alchemist, Maison Rapin Paris/France
2018 : Miart at The Luciano Colantonio Stand with The Work Scatola Lhasa
2008 : Roberto Giulio Rida, Glass furniture, GALERIE 146 Brussels
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In 2023, Bonhams achieved 14% growth with $1.14 billion in turnover. Recent important auctions and landmark single-owner collections, include the white glove sales of Sir Michael Caine: The Personal Collection, Alain Delon: Sixty Years of Passion; Sir Roger Moore: The Personal Collection; Personal Property of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and The Robert & Jean-Pierre Rousset Collection of Asian Art: A Century of Collecting. Other notable single-owner sales included The Estate of Barbara Walters: American Icon; The Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; The Crown Auction: Props and Costumes and The Claude de Marteau Collection.
Top lots for 2023 include 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta, Sold at Quail Lodge, US for US$30,255,000. Tipu Sultan’s Bedchamber Sword (sold in London for £14m – a world record for both an Islamic and an Indian object); Paul Signac (1863-1935), Sisteron, 1902. Sold for US$8,580,000 (estimate US$4-6 million), and Claude Monet (1840-1926), La Seine près de Giverny, 1888. Sold for US$6,352,500 (estimate US$4-6m), both from the Alan and Simone Hartman Collection; A Gilt Copper Alloy figure of Virupaksha, Central Tibet, Densatil Monastery, Early 15th century. Sold for HK$37.9m (£4,060,326) in Hong Kong. Yoshitomo Nara (born 1959) Three Stars. Sold for HK$36,754,000 (£3,930,914, also in Hong Kong
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