Lucio Fontana, Rosario de Santa Fé 1899 - 1968 Comabbio
Spatial Concept, 1960–63
Provenance
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York,
David Anderson Gallery, New York,
Jerome and Elaine Kurtz, New York (acquired directly from the above in 1981, and until 2016).
Lucio Fontana began to puncture his canvases with holes (or buchi) around 1949, and then repeated the gesture in his ceramic works. In one regard, the holes simply mark the movement of the artist’s hand, much like the brushstroke in Abstract Expressionist painting. Yet for Fontana the perforations were more significant—by literally ripping into the pictorial surface, Fontana opened up the picture plane, the space occupied by the viewer, to the space that lies beyond. Fontana understood this gesture and its result a penetration into the limitless possibilities of a boundless universe, stating “I make a hole…and from there I enter into infinity.” Here, three prominent buchi arranged in a horizontal line perforate the surface of a round ceramic platter painted black. These dramatic gouges perforate the platter completely, revealing the space behind and beyond the surface.
The artwork described above is subject to changes in availability and price without prior notice.
Where applicable ARR will be added.