Lucio Fontana

Italian, born Argentina, 1899-1968

Concetto spaziale, Attese (Spatial Concept, Waiting)

© Fondazione Lucio Fontana / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome

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© Fondazione Lucio Fontana / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

© Fondazione Lucio Fontana / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / SIAE, Rome

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

Concetto spaziale, Attese (Spatial Concept, Waiting), 1960

Artwork Details

Materials

oil on canvas

Measurements

support: 19 7/8 x 28 3/4 x 1.75 inches (50.48 x 73.02 x 11/16 cm); framed: 20 7/8 x 29 7/8 inches (53.02 x 75.88 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

Gift of The Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Inc., 1971

Accession ID

1971:4.8

In the late 1940s, Lucio Fontana began puncturing the surface of sheets of paper and canvases in an attempt to blur the distinction between two- and three-dimensionality. Over the next two decades, he continued to seek new ways of developing the hole as his signature gesture. In Spatial Concept, Waiting, Fontana covered the canvas with paint and then sliced the picture plane from top to bottom using a utility knife, gently prying each incision open with his hands. Lastly, he backed the canvas with black gauze. This final step not only stabilized the work but also created an illusion that was important to Fontana—suggesting a mysterious space just behind and beyond the canvas itself. This aspect of his compositions was crucial for the artist, who once said, “I do not want to make a painting; I want to open up space, create a new dimension, tie in the cosmos, as it endlessly expands beyond the confining plane of the picture.”

Label from Giant Steps: Artists and the 1960s, June 30–December 30, 2018

Other Works by This Artist