Finally, Strokes Drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Art Dealer Fabrizio Moretti Are Teaming Up—on an Old Masters Show at Sotheby’s

It’s the partnership we didn’t
know we needed—and maybe still don’t: the drummer of the Strokes,
Fabrizio Moretti, is joining forces with art dealer Fabrizio
Moretti for a “creative collaboration” in the form of an exhibition
and auction of Old Master art at Sotheby’s next
month. 

The show, titled “Fabrizio
Moretti x Fabrizio Moretti: In Passing,” will present 20 Old Master
paintings and sculptures selected by Moretti the art dealer, who
runs the London-based space Galleria Moretti. The works will be
presented in a series of interactive, maze-like installations
designed and fabricated by musician Moretti, who goes by Fab. It
will be on view at Sotheby’s New York for three days leading up to
a live auction on December 18.

“I was attracted to this project
by this idea of perspective,” the musician said in a statement. “It
is pervasive throughout all aspects of this exhibit, starting
simply by the fact that it involves one name but two pairs of
eyes.”

For his part, Moretti the dealer
wanted to “select a range of artists to feature in the sale,” from
the well-known to the anonymous, he said in a statement. Works by
Taddeo di Bartolo, René Frémin, and Battistello Caracciolo are
among the gallerist’s choices, all of which he will consign
himself.

“What unites [these artists] is
their mastery over their craft and their exploration of the
universal themes of the human condition,” he said. “I was intrigued
to collaborate with another Fabrizio who shares my name, a man who
is both a respected visual artist and musician who excels across
disciplines, much like the artists featured in the exhibition, and
to re-discover these themes with him.” 

It’s been a big year for the
dealer. Last
month, he acquired—on
behalf of a couple of collectors—a painting by early Italian master
Cimabue for $26.8 million. The painting was
found hanging above a
hot plate in the home of an elderly woman in
France. 

The Sotheby’s Moretti mashup is
the latest in a larger effort by the auction house to make Old
Masters seem hipper by enlisting celebrity help. In 2016, it tapped
James Franco to make a gooey short
film about Renaissance
sculptor Della Robbia, while in 2018 it worked with Victoria
Beckham on a show in
London. In September of
this year the house asked the cast of the film
The Goldfinch
about which old artwork they would
most want to save from destruction.  

And while “In Passing” is a
rather blatant example of this strategy, it is undeniably fun when
two people who share a name meet. Like when artist Nick Cave
once met musician Nick Cave, or that time Michelangelo the
Ninja Turtle confronted the Renaissance master at the
Met. 

It got us thinking: What are
some other pairs of same-named art worlders and celebrities that
should meet? Has artist Phil Collins ever met Genesis’s Phil
Collins? Has painter Chris Martin met his Coldplay namesake?
Timothée Calame and Timothée Chalamet don’t technically share the
same name, but it would be cool to see them get together all the
same. Paul McCarthy is just a small typo away from Paul
McCartney—now that would be a collaboration. 

The post Finally, Strokes Drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Art
Dealer Fabrizio Moretti Are Teaming Up—on an Old Masters Show at
Sotheby’s appeared first on artnet News.