Lucio Fontana (1899-1968)

Concetto Spaziale

Details

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968)
Concetto Spaziale
signed and indistinctly dated 'l. Fontana 5' (lower right); signed, titled and dated 'Concetto Spaziale l. Fontana 55' (on the reverse)
oil and glass pebbles on canvas
31 1/2 x 25 1/2in. (80 x 64.5cm.)
Executed in 1955

Provenance

Ignacio Acquarone, Concordia, Entre Rios
Galería Bonino (Pietro Zuffi), Buenos Aires
Acquired from the above by the present owners circa 1977

Literature

R. Brughetti, Pintura Italiana del Siglo XX, Buenos Aires 1967, pp. 130-131 (illustrated and dated incorrectly).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné, vol. II, Brussels 1974, no. 55 P 8 (illustrated p. 36).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Generale, vol. I, Milan 1986, no. 55 P 8 (illustrated p. 129).

Exhibited

Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Coleccion Acquarone: Pintura Italiana Contemporanea en Commemoracion del VII Centenario de Dante, July-August 1965, no. 94 (illustrated in colour).

Lot Essay

The present work is part of the Pietre series which Fontana worked on from 1954. He expanded on his perforation theme by adding stones and pieces of coloured glass to the canvas to create a material surface. Simultaneously he intensified his palette to highlight the material nature of the work giving it an aggressive but lyrical quality. The Pietre series was the start of Fontana's exploration of nature and a foretaste of the collage and sculpture series he was to develop from 1957.

More from 20th Century Art Pt.II

View All