Fontana first began puncturing the surfaces of paper, canvas and ceramics in the late 1940s, marking the beginning of his 'Spatial Concept' series. These spatial investigations were important innovations which...
Fontana first began puncturing the surfaces of paper, canvas and ceramics in the late 1940s, marking the beginning of his 'Spatial Concept' series. These spatial investigations were important innovations which effectively cut between the space occupied by the viewer, through the surface of the canvas, to the space that lies beyond.
Concetto Spaziale (1957-58) is of particular significance, as it predates Fontana's true Tagli (cut) paintings by over a year. Although Fontana is widely believed to have started his Tagli series in 1959, the first Tagli were made in the late summer and early autumn of 1958. This large-scale work is among the first investigations by Fontana in his Tagli series, and one can clearly observe Fontana's interest in developing the hole as his signature gesture, here combining 'buchi' (holes) and cuts in a pattern marking the movement of the artist's hand. Fontana's initial 'slashes' were cut in tight sequence, and comprised small, often diagonal incisions, composed in groups. These first incisions in paper canvas are rough and energetic, as one can see in the ragged tears in the present work. Later, in 1959, these tentative cuts evolved into the more definitive, single cuts.
This work was recently included in the exhibitions ZERO: Countdown to the Future (Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul) and Lucio Fontana (Hayward Gallery, London).
Galleria Notizie, Turin Cohen Collection, Turin Fossati Collection, Como Private Collection, London
Exhibitions
Turin, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Lucio Fontana, 1970, p. 152, no. 162, illustrated London, Hayward Gallery, Lucio Fontana, 1999-2000, pp. 123, 205, no. 60, illustrated in colour (inverted)
Istanbul, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, ZERO, Countdown to the Future, 2 September 2015 - 10 January 2016, p. 80, illustrated in colour
Publications
Enrico Pellegrini, Buchi e Tagli di Lucio Fontana, Turin 1966, p. 20, illustrated Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Sculptures et Environnements Spatiaux, Brussels 1974, vol. II, p. 78, no. 58 CA 3, illustrated (inverted) Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Generale, Milan 1986, vol. I, p. 270, no. 58 CA 3, illustrated (inverted) 'Economia/Le Rivelazioni', in: Il Giornale dell' Arte, no. 97, a. X, Turin, February 1992, p. 83, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Milan 2006, vol. I, p. 434, no. 58 CA 3, illustrated (inverted)
Courtesy of Ben Brown Fine Arts
Copyright The Artist
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