Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana
Back in Argentina, he taught in Buenos Aires and in 1946 drew up the Manifesto Blanco, which marked the beginning of his 'spatial' experiences; the following year, in Milan, he signed the first manifesto of Spatialism. The first holes and canvases painted with colour often mixed with fragments of glass were painted in 1952, whereas the cuts in the canvas were painted in 1958, and the artist also experimented in sculpture with the Nature series. Fontana died in Comabbio in 1968.
Back in Argentina, he taught in Buenos Aires and in 1946 drew up the Manifesto Blanco, which marked the beginning of his 'spatial' experiences; the following year, in Milan, he signed the first manifesto of Spatialism. The first holes and canvases painted with colour often mixed with fragments of glass were painted in 1952, whereas the cuts in the canvas were painted in 1958, and the artist also experimented in sculpture with the Nature series. Fontana died in Comabbio in 1968.
Medium: acrylic and glass on canvas
Medium: acrylic and glass on canvas
Introduction
Introduction
The canvas is a large square work measuring 150x150 cm. It is one of the best known works from theseries of 22 large paintings made in 1961 and dedicated to the city of Venice. Space, the artist's centre of reflection, coincides in this series with the artist's own surroundings. The silvery circle can be seen as the transcription of moonlight into a night sky in the lagoon, where fragments of coloured glass become a narrative of the sparkle of colours and the Venetian artistic and craft tradition. The series was created for an exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and the work also featured in the artist's first American exhibition in New York at the Marta Jackson Gallery in 1961.
The work is located at Gallerie d'italia - Milano.
The canvas is a large square work measuring 150x150 cm. It is one of the best known works from theseries of 22 large paintings made in 1961 and dedicated to the city of Venice. Space, the artist's centre of reflection, coincides in this series with the artist's own surroundings. The silvery circle can be seen as the transcription of moonlight into a night sky in the lagoon, where fragments of coloured glass become a narrative of the sparkle of colours and the Venetian artistic and craft tradition. The series was created for an exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and the work also featured in the artist's first American exhibition in New York at the Marta Jackson Gallery in 1961.
The work is located at Gallerie d'italia - Milano.
The work consists of a black textured background. The colour that was placed on the canvas has a physical thickness, which is partly removed to create space for a circular band, imprecisely applied, whose diameter occupies as much space as possible within the canvas.
The work consists of a black textured background. The colour that was placed on the canvas has a physical thickness, which is partly removed to create space for a circular band, imprecisely applied, whose diameter occupies as much space as possible within the canvas.
The circular, silvery band is a few centimetres thick.
The circular, silvery band is a few centimetres thick.
The space created within it remains black and the artist placed fragments of glass, with different shapes and colours, in random order, flanked by a few holes that Fontana made in the surface of the canvas.
The space created within it remains black and the artist placed fragments of glass, with different shapes and colours, in random order, flanked by a few holes that Fontana made in the surface of the canvas.
His desire to unite space and light creates a composition that is on the borderline between a spectacular, almost theatrical vision and a formal summary.
His desire to unite space and light creates a composition that is on the borderline between a spectacular, almost theatrical vision and a formal summary.