Florentine mosaics at Sollo Rago Modern auction

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It looks like one of those European science lab posters that have been popular as home decor for the past decade, but look again. This is a stunning example of pietra dura, the Italian art of painting with stones such as marble and granite. It is part of a collection of pieces by the American artist Richard Allmand Blow, who revived the centuries-old Florentine mosaic technique and gave it a distinctively modernist twist.

Blow established the Montici studio in Italy after World War II, where this crazy beautiful still life of fruit was produced. It is one of eight Blow works from the 1950s and ‘60s that will go on the block during the Sollo Rago Modern auction that runs Oct. 24 and 25. The framed 14.5-by-16.25-inch piece (Lot No. 14), above, is expected to fetch between $3,000 and $5,000.

See two rare table designs by Blow after the jump.

A 27.5-inch-diameter coffee table with brass legs has a top made of black marble with inlays of fish, seahorses and dragonflies. It is estimated to sell for $9,000 to $14,000.

A walnut-framed coffee table topped with travertine inlaid with triangles of mixed stones is valued between $4,000 and $6,000.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Rago Arts