Lucio Fontana
1899 – 1968
CONCETTO SPAZIALE, ATTESE
signed, titled and inscribed siamo andati a vedere le corse su strada on the reverse
waterpaint on canvas
92 by 73cm.; 36 1/2 by 28 3/4 in.
Executed in 1965.
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Italy
Sale: Sotheby’s, London, Post War and Contemporary Art, 28 June 1990, Lot 63
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner
CATALOGUE NOTE
At the height of his career, Fontana announced the purest expression of his revolutionary approach to painting and sculpture by piercing a pristine white canvas with a razor blade. Embodying an exquisite manifestation of this act, Concetto Spaziale, Attese comprises a stunning choreography of five vertical cuts through a pristine white canvas. The stark contrast between the blackness of his vertical incisions and the quietly radiating white, illustrates Fontana’s prime concern of space, gesture and light. Through these three components the Italo-Argentinian artist sought to explore a new dimension that opened up a space beyond the flat surface of the traditional two dimensional canvas plane. Amidst the wide variety of works articulated in a multitude of colours with numerous cuts in varying scales, the present example forcefully delivers an essential articulation of Fontana’s art.