Lucio Fontana

Galerie Pierre, Stockholm
Private Collection, Milan
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Post War and Contemporary Art, 6 December 1984, Lot 546
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II, Brussels 1974, pp. 188-189, no. 67 T 21, illustrated 
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Generale, Vol. II, Milan 1986, p. 657, no. 67 T 21, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Milan 2006, p. 853, 67 T 21, illustrated

In Concetto Spaziale, Attese, Fontana's tagli take their most spectacular form.  A pure pristine white ground becomes a dramatic stage upon which four trademark slashes play their part.  Each of almost equal length, the four dark recesses transport the viewer into a dynamic third dimension, a sculptural space where energy seems to pound through the openings. Recalling the dynamic compositions of the Italian Futurists, Fontana here has taken the painted stroke of movement and transformed it into action. Slim and elegant in their precise positioning at regular intervals across the picture plane, the slashes catalyse the metamorphosis of the two dimensional canvas into a strikingly beautiful art-object.

The dynamic juxtaposition of dark incisions against a neutral white field of colour perfectly encapsulates Fontana's visual theatre at its most eloquent. The colour of virginal purity, innocence and serenity, white is also the colour of light, and therefore, of energy.  Fontana was captivated by technological advancement, and here, the emphatic white ground articulates his aim to find a visual manifestation of the progress he witnessed in the immediate post-war period.  Arresting in its dramatic chiaroscuro of dark penetrating light, Concetto Spaziale, Attese is a work of animated beauty, illuminating Fontana's groundbreaking innovations.