Lucio Fontana

Private Collection, Europe
Galerie Zero, Stockholm
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1993

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogo Generale, Vol. II, Milan 2006, p. 870, no. 67 T 132, illustrated

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is slightly cooler in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Upon close inspection, there are a few tiny scattered pigment specks in places, likely original to the work's execution. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
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Gloriously alluring in its purity of form and colour, Concetto Spaziale, Attese, is a miniature masterpiece of Lucio Fontana’s late oeuvre. Painted in 1967, the artist had refined his legendary tagli, or cuts, throughout the previous decade, ensuring that a true precision of form had been attained by the time Concetto Spaziale, Attese, was created. The playful inscription of the back, giovedi é festa– literally translated as ‘Thursday is party’ – perhaps refers to the Thursday evening salons of the Milanese designer, Germana Marucelli: held between 1948 and 1950, Fontana is known to have attended on occasion.

Three exquisitely shaped tagli dominate the centre of the composition, their undeniable presence magnificently accentuated due to the small size of the canvas, whilst the bright white background invites associations with purity and virginity, a concept which fascinated Fontana. Indeed, there is a sense of untamed sensuality inherent in Fontana’s manipulation of the canvas ground: once the original cut had been executed with a stanley knife, the artist would gently widen and soften the edges of each incision using his fingertips, a process described evocatively by a friend of Fontana’s as a ‘caress’ (Sarah Whitfield, ‘Handling Space’ in: Exhibition Catalogue, London, Hayward Gallery, Lucio Fontana, 2000, p. 31).

Despite the small scale of Concetto Spaziale, Attese, a sense of cosmic infinity is evoked through Fontana’s piercing the canvas ground and opening up the space beyond. Intrigued by the ever-expanding possibilities of spatial exploration, the artist sought to move away from the restrictions of a flat canvas, dreaming of the creative horizons offered by the idea of four-dimensional spatial and temporal planes.  Fontana discussed this concept in an interview in 1969: “Nowadays in space measurement no longer exists… the sense of time and measurement has gone… The cuts… the first holes, did not signify the destruction of the canvas… it introduced a dimension beyond the painting itself” (the artist, in an interview with Carlo Lonzi, cited in Ibid. p. 122). Exquisitely constructed and exhibiting a true mastery of technique, Concetto Spaziale, Attese perfectly distils Fontana’s creative ideals as he neared the culmination of his creative journey.