Lucio Fontana

Lucio Fontana was an Argentinian–Italian artist of the twentieth century; his father, already a sculptor, shaped his path early on. In 1918, Fontana graduated as a civil engineering (diploma) engineer from the School of Civil Engineering in Milan. He became especially known for his monochrome canvases, Concetto Spaziale – Spazial Concept, which he cut or punctured with a knife. This produced characteristic slashes and holes, giving his “cut” works an almost aggressive dynamism. Fontana’s influence on subsequent generations of artists was significant—among others, the ZERO group, as well as the movements Nouveau Réalisme and Arte Povera. These increasingly made use of installations to explore how space and movement could be activated both in galleries and, as in Land Art, in the natural environment. Fontana took part in documenta on several occasions. In 1966, he was awarded the Grand Prize for Painting at the Venice Biennale. Today, his works can be found in numerous public collections around the world.