Lucio Fontana

Gallery News, Turin
Private Collection, Italy (acquired from the above circa 1970)
Private Collection, Italy (by descent from the above)
Christie's, Milan, April 22, 2013, lot 17
Acquired by the present owner from the above sale

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana. Catalogue raisonné des peintures, sculptures et environnements spatiaux rédigé par Enrico Crispolti, Brussels, 1974, Vol. II, cat. no. 59 T 54, pp. 84-85, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Fontana. Catalogo generale, Milan, 1986, Vol. I, cat. no. 59 T 54, p. 287, illustrated
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana. Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti e ambientazioni, Milan, 2006, Vol. I, cat. no. 59 T 54, p. 454, illustrated

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light war and handling along the edges which are obscured by the frame. The color is bright, fresh and clean. Under very close inspection, an unobtrusive diagonal area of hairline craquelure is visible in the lower left corner and a thumb-sized area of hairline craquelure is visible in the lower right corner, all of which appear stable. There is a pinpoint spot of paint loss 3 inches from the left edge and 19 inches from the bottom edge and there is a very faint abrasion visible in the lower left corner. The edges of the slashes undulate slightly. Only visible under extreme raking light and magnification, there are minor and unobtrusive hairline ground cracks scattered throughout, all of which appear stable. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there are some scattered round drip accretions that fluoresce brightly in the lower left and right corners and along the edge of the upper left slash, but do not appear to be the result of restoration. Framed under Plexiglas.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Lucio Fontana’s lyrical Concetto Spaziale, Attese from 1959 is an elegantly sublime example of the artist’s legendary tagli works. The luscious expanse of emerald canvas is pieced by three slashes; one long, precise cut offset by two curvilinear cuts resulting in a composition that is both balanced and off-kilter. The utterly pristine surface of the present work delivers an overwhelming visual experience of spectacular clarity that borders on the sublime, the perfect expression of Fontana’s search for “the Infinite, the inconceivable chaos, the end of figuration, nothingness” (Exh. Cat., London, Hayward Gallery, Lucio Fontana, 2000, p. 198). The energy of Fontana’s slashes harnesses an enigmatic combination of violence and delicacy, juxtaposing the delicate coloring of the canvas with the violation of its purity by the artist himself.

Fontana first embarked upon his tagli in the fall of 1958 and developed the motif by bathing his canvases in an extensive palette of hues that ranged from bright yellows, vivid oranges and hot pinks through more muted brown and grey tones to shimmering baroque golds and silvers. Against this panoply of pigments, Fontana further diversified his practice by experimenting with different quantities of slashes that danced across the tagli’s serene monochrome grounds. As is exquisitely articulated in the present work, the various slashes preserve the greatest tension within the canvas flesh, heightening the viewer’s perception of the opposing dialogues whose dynamic marriages fill Concetto Spaziale, Attese with symbolic interaction between light and dark and void and plane.

Having advanced his intellectual theory of Spatialism in five formative manifestos between 1946 and 1952, Fontana was to forge unthinkable advancements in artistic ideology that sought to engage technology and find expression for a fourth dimension—infinite space. Fontana’s progressive thinking aligned perfectly with the formation of Europe’s ZERO group whose founders Heinz Mack and Otto Piene similarly sought to experiment with unprecedented media and formats. The members of the group, ranging from Günther Uecker in Germany to Roman Opalka in Warsaw all shared a “mutual aspiration to reclaim art’s experimental and forward-looking potential in the aftermath of World War II” (Valerie Hillings in Exh. Cat., New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-60s, 2014, p. 16). Indeed, Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale, Attese embodies the artist’s revolutionary spatial theories while stimulating a unique dialogue with the symbolic value of color and form.