Lot Essay
The Fine di Dio (End of God) is one of Fontana's rarest and most sought-after pictorial forms. Its special appeal to collectors is due, in part, to its dramatic formal presence and its complex philosophical ideology. Certainly it ranks as the artist's most developed statement about the nature of the universe, the future of post-war society, as well as acting as a personal commentary on the spiritual content of his own oeuvre.
The Fine di Dio series comprises 38 egg-shaped canvases of identical proportions, painted between 1963-1964 in single monochromatic colours and subjected to a diverse range of surface effects. Each canvas has been torn open with a profusion of gaping holes that radiate a painful sensuality. The effect is reminiscent of the oozing wounds of a Gothic Christ; conversely, commentators have likened the large perforations to volcanic craters erupting on the barren landscape of a world where God no longer exists.
The puncturing of the canvas is of course the trade-mark technique by which Fontana succeeded in breaking through the inherent two-dimensionality of the picture surface in order to suggest a doorway to spacial infinity. He explained, "I do not want to make a painting; I want to open up space, create a new dimension for art, tie in at the cosmos, as it endlessly expands beyond the confining plane of the picture. With my innovation of the hole pierced through the canvas in repetitive formations, I have not attempted to decorate a surface, but, on the contrary, I have tried to break its dimensional limitations. Beyond the perforations, a newly gained freedom of interpretation awaits us, but also, and just as inevitably, the end of art. " (as quoted in the catalogue introduction to the Lucio Fontana exhibition, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, 1966.
In the Fine di Dio series, Fontana employs the form of the egg as a universal symbol of birth. As the title implies, however, in Fontana's new world philosophy, the creation of embryonic life no longer lies in the hands of God or orthodox religion. The horrors of the Second World War had shattered all such illusions. Instead, science and technology now dictate the laws of the universe and man must look for spirituality and truth in the formidable expanse of the cosmos. It is no accident that the development of Fontana's ideology coincided with the enormous breakthroughs in scientific knowledge, which would soon propel man to the stars.
The spiritual content of Fontana's pictures has often been cited as the most significant aspect of his art. The experience of viewing the elegant arc of one of his rasor-like cuts (tagli), isolated against a picture plain of pure white, blue or red, can be likened to meditating upon a sacred icon. The series of Fine di Dio pictures makes conscious self-reference to this iconic potential, but clearly indicates that any religious enlightenment derived from a Fontana has no relation to any specific God.
The Fine di Dio series comprises 38 egg-shaped canvases of identical proportions, painted between 1963-1964 in single monochromatic colours and subjected to a diverse range of surface effects. Each canvas has been torn open with a profusion of gaping holes that radiate a painful sensuality. The effect is reminiscent of the oozing wounds of a Gothic Christ; conversely, commentators have likened the large perforations to volcanic craters erupting on the barren landscape of a world where God no longer exists.
The puncturing of the canvas is of course the trade-mark technique by which Fontana succeeded in breaking through the inherent two-dimensionality of the picture surface in order to suggest a doorway to spacial infinity. He explained, "I do not want to make a painting; I want to open up space, create a new dimension for art, tie in at the cosmos, as it endlessly expands beyond the confining plane of the picture. With my innovation of the hole pierced through the canvas in repetitive formations, I have not attempted to decorate a surface, but, on the contrary, I have tried to break its dimensional limitations. Beyond the perforations, a newly gained freedom of interpretation awaits us, but also, and just as inevitably, the end of art. " (as quoted in the catalogue introduction to the Lucio Fontana exhibition, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, 1966.
In the Fine di Dio series, Fontana employs the form of the egg as a universal symbol of birth. As the title implies, however, in Fontana's new world philosophy, the creation of embryonic life no longer lies in the hands of God or orthodox religion. The horrors of the Second World War had shattered all such illusions. Instead, science and technology now dictate the laws of the universe and man must look for spirituality and truth in the formidable expanse of the cosmos. It is no accident that the development of Fontana's ideology coincided with the enormous breakthroughs in scientific knowledge, which would soon propel man to the stars.
The spiritual content of Fontana's pictures has often been cited as the most significant aspect of his art. The experience of viewing the elegant arc of one of his rasor-like cuts (tagli), isolated against a picture plain of pure white, blue or red, can be likened to meditating upon a sacred icon. The series of Fine di Dio pictures makes conscious self-reference to this iconic potential, but clearly indicates that any religious enlightenment derived from a Fontana has no relation to any specific God.