Sant'Agostino

The Auction House

The Sant’Agostino auction house and art gallery was founded by Pier Carioggia in Turin in 1969; the address of its first location—at 5 Via Sant'Agostino—inspired the founder to name the company after the street.

In 1977, Pier Carioggia began collaborating with Giorgio Circosta, soon bringing him on as a partner in the business. Their partnership, cemented by thirty years of working together, was abruptly cut short by Giorgio Circosta’s sudden and untimely death in October 2007.

Mario Sironi, "L'ingegnere" (The Engineer), 1928

Meanwhile, in 1983, the two partners moved the gallery a few blocks away to 15 Corso Siccardi. Although the new premises were larger and more elegant, they still could not accommodate the auctions themselves. Consequently, exhibitions and auction sessions continued to be held in a large theater or the meeting rooms of a local grand hotel. It therefore became inevitable that they would purchase a spacious property suited to auction house operations—a place where they could more easily manage the ever-growing number of artworks arriving at the gallery and host both exhibitions and sales sessions on-site. The first auction exhibition held at the new premises was the forty-fourth in the series, taking place in late May 1993.

Since then, Sant’Agostino has enjoyed increasing success, offering an ever-greater number of significant artworks at its auctions. A prime example is Sironi’s extraordinary *L’Ingegnere* (The Engineer)—a renowned oil painting from 1928—which sold for €450,000 at the 84th auction held on November 17, 2003.

While Galleria Sant’Agostino’s auctions remain highly specialized in 19th-century, 20th-century, and contemporary paintings and sculptures, the firm has expanded its scope to include 20th-century design and decorative arts; silver, jewelry, and watches; Old Master works, furniture, and objets d'art; and classic and collector cars. These efforts have yielded excellent results in terms of both the percentage of lots sold and the high hammer prices achieved—figures that have frequently far exceeded initial estimates.

Over its fifty-year history, Sant’Agostino has auctioned more than 90,000 lots, earning the loyalty of clients who value the firm's well-known professionalism and integrity. Ours is one of the few auction houses that stands behind the authenticity of the works it sells without time limitation.

On December 18, 2015, Pier Giuseppe Carioggia, the founder of the Sant’Agostino auction house, passed away suddenly and prematurely. Since then, the company has been managed by his children, Vanessa and Claudio, who carry on their father’s work with great enthusiasm and an innovative spirit, while remaining respectful of tradition.