L13624

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Lot 20
  • 20

Lucio Fontana

Estimate
1,000,000 - 1,400,000 GBP
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Description

  • Lucio Fontana
  • Concetto Spaziale
  • signed; signed and titled on the reverse
  • oil on canvas
  • 100.5 by 81.5cm.
  • 39 1/2 by 32in.
  • Executed in 1960.

Provenance

Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York
Galerie Stadler, Paris
Collezione P.L., Belgium
Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne
Private Collection, UK
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Post-War and Contemporary Art, 28 June 1990, Lot 39
Private Collection, Switzerland
Galerie Bischofberger, Zurich
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in the early 1990s

Exhibited

Turin, International Centre of Aesthetic Research, Fontana, Spazi dell'arch, 1962

Basel, Kunstmesse; Cologne, Kunstmesse; Rome, Agenzia d'Arte Moderna, 1977, Segno/gesto/materia - Gli Anni 50 tra Europa e America, p. 61, illustrated

Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Lucio Fontana, 1977, illustrated on the poster

New York, Marisa Del Re Gallery, Lucio Fontana: Conquest of Space, 1986, n.p., illustrated in colour

Paris, Grand Palais, Italia Nuova: Une Aventure de l'Art Italien - 1900-1950, 2006, no. 113

Literature

Galeriehaus Köln, Barcelona 1977, pp. 28-9, illustrated

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. I, Milan 1986, no. 60 O 71, p. 256, illustrated in colour, and p. 263, illustrated

Barbara Hess, Lucio Fontana 1899-1968 "A New Fact in Sculpture," Cologne 2006, p. 68, illustrated in colour 

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. I, Milan 2006, p. 427, no. 60 O 71, illustrated

Condition

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the illustration fails to convey the richly textured applications of paint. Condition: This work is in good condition. There is a craquelure pattern that extends across the surface, most notably to the edges. This is typical of works by Fontana of this period and in this medium. The craquelure lines appear secure and stable. Close inspection reveals one very small paint loss in the upper left of the composition, and an extremely small chip on the right vertical turnover edge. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Belonging to the seminal series of Olii, the radiant Concetto Spaziale stands at the apogee of Fontana’s utilisation of oil paint. Its magnificent amalgamation of texture and pigment coalesces to produce a radiant two-toned surface of golden hues. The importance of Concetto Spaziale was recognised very shortly after its completion, when it was shown within the exhibition Fontana, Spazi dell'Arch at The Centre of Aesthetic Research in Turin in 1962. A nexus of forward-thinking artistic activity, the Centre was co-founded in 1960 by the venerated critic and early supporter of Fontana’s work, Michel Tapié. Following this early showing, Concetto Spaziale has been exhibited at a number of distinguished international venues, including Basel Kunstmesse in 1977 and The Grand Palais, Paris in 2006. Utilising the ovoid shape that dominated Fontana’s imagination, culminating in the iconic Fine di Dio series of 1963, Concetto Spaziale assimilates the most important motifs of Fontana’s career – the egg, the sun, the puncture – with thickly modelled paint, as if clay.
Luca Massimo Barbero has written of the importance of Fontana’s discovery of oil paints: “The Oils embody the immersion into the sensual abyss of the possibilities offered by modelling, scoring and scraping the medium which is copiously troweled across the canvas, to the point that the heavily worked paint becomes one with the image, pushing the work to the threshold between painting and relief sculpture” (Luca Massimo Barbero in: Exhibition Catalogue, Venice, Peggy Guggenheim Collection; New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Lucio Fontana: Venice/New York, 2006-7, p. 24). Fontana himself declared that his attempts to transcend the sanctity of a two dimensional canvas should be considered as a novel form of sculpture rather than painting: “For me, they are perforated canvases that represent sculpture, a new fact in sculpture” (the artist cited in: Barbara Hess, Lucio Fontana: A New Fact in Sculpture, Cologne 2006, p. 8).
Fontana had first punctured holes through the canvas in 1949, paving the way for one of the most iconic revolutions within the entirety of Twentieth Century art. In breaking the barrier between the flat plane of the canvas and the space beyond, Fontana pushed beyond the limitations of conventional painting, forging a totally novel form of art that hovered thrillingly on the cusp of sculpture in its tactility. The myriad punctures that adorn the surface of Concetto Spaziale invite associations with a night sky glimmering with stars. Yet the violence of the piercing and gouging evinced by Concetto Spaziale seems particularly marked, as though the organic form outlined by the deeper yellow tone at the centre of the canvas has been singled out for attack. Sarah Whitfield argues that the irregular arrangement of the holes within the Olii recalls the marks of gunshot wounds and similar trauma following Fontana’s experiences during the First World War, when he was injured by a bullet in the arm. The result is a work of commanding authority and dramatic tension that exerts a powerful impact on the viewer.
The burnished yellow tones – almost golden in intensity –  of Concetto Spaziale, and the spherical form at its centre appear to reference the force of solar energy, a motif that frequently captured Fontana. An inscription on the back of Concetto Spaziale no. 64 O 11, for example, conflated Fontana’s heliocentric interests with his admiration of gold: “Gold is as beautiful as the sun!” Ultimately Concetto Spaziale is a paean to such imagery, magnificently exemplifying Fontana’s ground-breaking exploitation of oil paint, and a highly significant work within the Olii series.