factsheet - Leslie Smith Gallery

Lucio Fontana
(Argentinian, 19.02.1899 - 07.09.1968 )
Concetto Spaziale
Signed lower centre l. fontana, on reverse 'consegnato il 24/12/66 ore 18'
Aniline, paillettes and pencil on canvas, round shape on natural base
15 x 10 cm / 5.9 x 3.9 inch
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Milan;
Private collection, Milan;
Private collection, Netherlands
EXHIBITED
2016 TEFAF 2016, SmithDavidson Gallery, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2016 Palm Beach Jewelry, Art and Antique Show, SmithDavidson Gallery, Palm Beach, USA
2015 ArtMiami, SmithDavidson Gallery, Miami, USA
2015 TEFAF 2015, Leslie Smith Gallery (SDG), Maastricht, The Netherlands
2015 Zero: Let Us Explore the Stars, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
LITERATURE
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana. Catalogue raisonné des peintures, sculptures et environnements spatiaux, La Connaissance, Brussels, 1974, vol. II, p. 148149, no. 66-67, B17;
Enrico Crispolti, Fontana. Catalogo generale, Electa, Milano, 1986, vol. II, p. 508, no. 66-67, B17;
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana. Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, Skira, Milano, 2006, Vol. II, p. 698, no. 66-67, B17.
ABOUT
Fontana is well known for his Concetto Spaziale (‘spatial concepts’) depictions, egg-like shapes in undefined and monochrome spaces, which he started
making around the late 1940’s / early 1950’s. He used different techniques; in his Pietre (‘stones’) series he fused the sculptural with painting by encrusting
the surfaces of his canvases with heavy impasto and colored glass, whereas in his Buchi (‘holes’) cycles, he punctured the surface of his canvases, breaking
the membrane of two-dimensionality in order to highlight the space behind the picture.
In this particular piece, Fontana combined techniques he applied earlier. After drewing the shape of the concetto spaziale with pencil on the canvas he filled
the round surface with subtle pieces of glass or paillettes, while afterwards pinching holes into it, creating three-dimensionality. The piece was made on
Christmas’ night, December 24th, 1966, as stated by the inscription on the reverse of the panel.
BIOGRAPHY
(Lucio Fontana)
Argentine-Italian painter and sculptor Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) is considered founder and representative of Spatialism. Followers of ‘Spazialismo’ (the Italian
translation), which arose in the late 1940’s, intended to synthesize colour, sound, space, movement, and time into a new type of art. Fontana published his
ideas of the movement in his Manifesto Blanco in Argentina in 1946. He proposed a ‘spatial’ attempt in art instead of a ‘virtual’ approach, combining art and
science through the use of techniques such as neon lighting and television. He also cut and stabbed paintings, which are also considered Spatialist works.
Fontana has also ties to the Italian Arte Povera (literally ‘poor art’) during 1967-72. Just as ‘Impressionism’, this term was initiated thanks to an art critic.
Artists connected to this movement took a radical stance against established institutions of government, industry, and culture, resulting in unconventional art
by the use of different materials and styles.
Work by Fontana is found in important international museums and collections all over the world, such as the Guggenheim Museum and the MOMA in New
York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, Haifa Museum in Israel, the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo (Netherlands) and many more.
LITERATURE
Enrico Crispolti (ed.), FONTANA, Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Edizioni Charta (Milan 1999).
EXHIBITIONS
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 TEFAF Maastricht, SmithDavidson Gallery, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2013 Destroy the Picture: Painting the Void, 1949–1962 - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), Chicago, IL
2013 The 60s In The Guggenheim Collections. From Informel To Pop Art - Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
2009 Lucio Fontana. Le scritture del disegno - Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan
2009 Lucio Fontana - Zeichen und Zeichnung - Museum Liner, Appenzell, Switzerland
2008 Lucio Fontana, Scultore, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy (solo)
2008 Lucio Fontana: Paintings, Sculptures, Works on Paper, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
2007 Via Crucis - Lucio Fontana, Museo de Arte de Sao Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - MASP, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2007 Lucio Fontana Sculptor, Castello di San Giorgio, Torino, Italy
2007 Living, Looking, Making: Sculpture by Giacometti, Fontana, Twombly, Serra, Gagosian Gallery, London, UK
2006 Lucio Fontana, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY
2006 Lucio Fontana: Venice/New York”, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
2006 Lucio Fontana: Alle Radici Dello Spazialismo, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo, New York, NY
2004 Lucio Fontana, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland
2000 Lucio Fontana, Sperone Westwater, New York, NY
1999-00 Minimalia: An Italian Version in 20th Century Art, P.S. 1, New York, NY
1998-99 Gold: Gothic Masters and Lucio Fontana, Compagnia Di Belle Arti (& other locations) Milan, Italy
1998 Lucio Fontana, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
1998 Lucio Fontana. Entre Materia y Espacio, La Fundación 'la Caixa' in collaboration with the Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
1996-97 Lucio Fontana: Retrospektive, Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany; Museum Moderner Kunst Stifung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria (solo)
1987 Lucio Fontana, Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1987 Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1977 Lucio Fontana Retrospective, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY
1966 Retrospective, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1959 V. Bienal Sao Paulo, Brazil
1930 Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
COLLECTIONS
Works by Fontana are found in major museums and collections all over the world including:
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York
MOMA, New York
Kunstmuseum, Basel
Haifa Museum, Israel
Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands