Domenico Gnoli’s acrylic-and-sand painting Shirt Collar Size 14½, from 1969, was the highlight at the first sale dedicated to modern Italian art to take place at an auction house in New York. It was organized by international curator Francesco Bonami with the intention of exposing Americans to a range of artists less known on this side of the Atlantic.

The Gnoli piece, which combines Conceptual elements of painting and sculpture, sold for $6,885,000 (est.$7–9 million). From the Arte Povera movement was Alighiero Boetti’s Mappa, 1988, an embroidered tapestry reflecting the concept of time and history, which realized $1,805,000 (est. $1.5–2 million).