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Beyond the Canvas: Masterpieces from a Private German Collection

Lucio Fontana

Concetto spaziale, Natura

Auction Closed

March 4, 09:10 PM GMT

Estimate

1,200,000 - 1,800,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Lucio Fontana

1899 - 1968


Concetto spaziale, Natura

bronze

58 by 68 by 64 cm. 22⅞ by 26¾ by 25¼ in.

Conceived in 1959-60, and executed circa 1969, this work is 1 of 2 posthumous bronze casts authorised by the artist and made by the Marlborough Galleria d'Arte, Rome, aside from 1 terracotta cast and 1 lifetime cast.

Marlborough Galleria d'Arte, Rome

Galerie Alfred Schmela, Dusseldorf

Private Collection, Cologne (acquired from the above in 1969)

Thence by descent to the present owner

Milan, Galleria Pagani del Grattacielo, Continuita, May – June 1961 (terracotta cast)

Milan, Palazzo Reale, Lucio Fontana, April – June 1972, no. 152, p. 201, illustrated (bronze lifetime cast)

Caracas, Fundación Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, Lucio Fontana, November 1974 – January 1975, no. 33, p. 24 (checklist) (another bronze posthumous cast)

Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Lucio Fontana: Plastiken und Bilder 1953-1962, October 1980 (bronze lifetime cast)

Hanover, Kunstmuseum Hannover mit Sammlung Sprengel, Understanding Sculpture: Seventeen Selected Sculptures from 1919 to 1980, April – June 1981, nos. 19-22, pp. 38-39, 40 (detail) and 41, illustrated (bronze lifetime cast)

Cologne, Dia Art Foundation, Lucio Fontana, March – June 1981 (bronze lifetime cast)

Madrid, Palacio de Velázquez, Lucio Fontana: El Espacio Como Exploracion, April – June 1982, no. 41, p. 103, illustrated (bronze lifetime cast)

Cologne, Galerie Karsten Greve, Lucio Fontana – Plastik, 1983, p. 53, illustrated (bronze lifetime cast)

Paris, Galerie Karsten Greve, Lucio Fontana: Paintings and Sculptures, November 1989 – February 1990, p. 71, illustrated in colour (bronze lifetime cast)

Krefeld, Museen Haus Esters und Haus Lange, Im Weißen Raum: Lucio Fontana / Yves Klein, November 1994 – February 1995, no. 17, n.p., illustrated in colour (another bronze posthumous cast)

Esslingen, Galerie der Stadt, Zero Italien: Azimut/Azimuth 1959/60 in Milan and Today, December 1995 – February 1996, p. 118, illustrated (terracotta cast)

Zurich, de Pury & Luxembourg, Lucio Fontana, October – December 2002, n.p., illustrated in colour (installation views); no. 42, n.p. (checklist) (another bronze example)

Paris, Galerie Karsten Greve, 20 Years in Paris, October – November 2009, p. 67, illustrated in colour (another bronze posthumous cast)

New York, The Met Breuer, Lucio Fontana: On the Threshold, January – April 2019, no. 59, p. 145, illustrated in colour (bronze lifetime cast)

Wuppertal, Von der Heydt Museum, Lucio Fontana. Erwartung, October 2024 – January 2025, p. 117, illustrated in colour (another bronze posthumous cast)

Burt Wasserman, “Giacometti & Fontana: Art Pierced by Space,” Art Education, vol. 19, no. 1, January 1966, p. 17, illustrated (terracotta cast, in the artist's studio)

Ugo Mulas, ed., Manifesto Blanco 1946: Spazialismo, Milan 1966 (text) (terracotta cast)

Giulio Bolaffi, ed., Dizionario Bolaffi Degli Scultori Italiani Moderni, Turin 1972, p. 147, illustrated (another example)

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné des Peintures, Sculptures et Environnements Spatiaux, vol. II, Brussels 1974, no. 59-60 N 6, p. 105, illustrated (bronze cast)

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Generale, vol. I, Milan 1986, no. 59-60 N 6, p. 351, illustrated (terracotta cast), and p. 360, illustrated in colour (bronze cast)

Exh. Cat., Paris, Centre Georges Pompidou, Lucio Fontana, 1987-88, p. 339, illustrated (another bronze posthumous cast)

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, vol. I, Milan 2006, no. 59-60 N 6, p. 530, illustrated (terracotta cast)

Barbara Hess, Lucio Fontana, Cologne 2006, p. 44, illustrated in colour (another bronze posthumous cast)

Luca Massimo Barbero, Lucio Fontana. Catalogo Ragionato delle Sculture Ceramiche, vol. II, Milan 2022, no. 59-60 N 6, p. 612, illustrated (terracotta cast)