Lucio Fontana was born on February 19, 1899, in Rosario di Santa Fè, Argentina, to parents of Italian descent. His artistic journey commenced early, under the guidance of his father Luigi, a sculptor renowned for his commercial pieces. In his formative years, Fontana also pursued formal education at the Carlo Cattaneo Technical Institute in Milan, enrolling in the School of Master Builders. However, in 1916, he interrupted his studies to volunteer for the Italian army, serving on the front lines. In the 1920s, following his discharge from the military with a silver medal for valor, Fontana completed his studies as a building surveyor. Subsequently, he chose to return to Rosario di Santa Fè, where he began working permanently in his father’s atelier “Fontana y Scarabelli.”
A first turning point in his life occurred in 1924, when Fontana decided to emancipate himself from his father’s teaching, establishing his own sculpture studio. Here, he dedicated himself to the exploration of sculpture as an art form for research purposes rather than purely commercial endeavors. Subsequently, in 1927, Fontana enrolled at the Brera Academy, where he studied under the guidance of Adolfo Wildt. He completed his studies in 1929, presenting his sculpture El Auriga (1928) as his graduation piece. The following year marked Fontana’s debut at the Venice Biennale, where he showcased his works Eva (1928) and Vittoria Fascista (1929). Concurrently, in 1929, during his inaugural solo exhibition at the Galleria del Milione in Milan, he unveiled a groundbreaking piece titled Uomo nero (1930). This work represented a significant departure, featuring human figures depicted as geometrically shaped silhouettes—a theme that would become a hallmark of his artistic repertoire, further highlighted by an exhibition at the Galleria del Milione in 1934. Fontana’s artistic exploration continued in the subsequent five years, primarily focusing on ceramics. He collaborated with his friend Giuseppe Mazzotti at his workshop in Albisola (Savona).
After experimenting with colored mosaic in the 1940s and creating the frieze titled the Volo delle Vittorie in Milan’s Piazza San Sepolcro, Fontana, grappling with a perpetual tug between Italy and Argentina, opted to return to his homeland. In 1946, the term Concetto spaziale first emerged in a series of drawings, a title that would increasingly characterize much of the artist’s work in the years to come. The following year, Fontana relocated once more to Albisola. Alongside critic Giorgio Kaisserlian, philosopher Beniamino Joppolo, and writer Milena Milani, he co-signed the first Manifesto of Spatialism. This was followed in 1948 by a second draft and a couple of years later by a third version titled Proposal for a regulation. This document reiterates the need to overcome the art of the past by making “the painting come out of its frame and the sculpture out of its bell jar” and encouraging the production of new art forms using the innovative means made available by technology. Concurrently, he initiated the Buchi cycle—a series of paintings characterized by swirling patterns of holes crafted with an awl, integrated into his color interventions. Fontana’s also continued his ceramic work, notably with a major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York as part of Twentieth-Century Italian Art in 1949. He also held a solo exhibition in May 1950 at the XXV edition of the Venice Biennale.
The year unfolded with Fontana’s victory in the competition for the Fifth Door of Milan Cathedral alongside Luciano Minguzzi in 1952 organized by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo. Additionally, Fontana contributed to the Milan Triennale, collaborating with architects Luciano Baldessarri and Marcello Grisotti on an ambitious environmental renovation project. This initiative featured the creation of a striking neon arabesque for the grand staircase, as well as an installation of indirect lighting for the vestibule and lobby. He then signed the fourth Space Art Manifesto with Anton Giulio Ambrosini, Giancarlo Carozzi, Roberto Crippa, Mario De Luigi, Gianni Dova, Virgilio Guidi, Beniamino Joppolo, Milena Milani, Berto Morucchio, Cesare Peverelli and Vinicio Vianello.
In 1952, Fontana participated in the Manifesto of the Space Movement for Television. Concurrently, he presented works exclusively dedicated to the cycle of Buchi at the Arte Spaziale exhibition held at the Naviglio Gallery. The 1950s marked a period of prolific experimentation for Fontana, during which he participated in internationally renowned exhibitions while advancing his research in painting. Notable examples of his innovative approach include the introduction of the Pietre cycle, showcased at the VII Quadriennale in Rome in 1955, as well as the series initiated in 1954 of Gessi (1954-1958) and Barocchi (1954-1957). In 1958, during the XXIX Venice Biennale, Fontana unveiled two significant series: the Inchiostri and the space sculptures on stalks. Later that year, Fontana introduced the Tagli presented several times: at the Naviglio Gallery in February 1959 and subsequently showcased at the Stadler Gallery in Paris (March 1959), Documenta in Kassel (July 1959), the V Biennial in São Paulo, Brazil (September 1959), L’Attico Gallery in Rome (October 1959), Galerie Schmela in Düsseldorf (1960), and McRoberts&Tunnard in London (1960).
Fontana’s relentless exploration continued into the late 1950s and early 1960s with the introduction of the Quanta and Nature series. From the beginning of the 1960s, Fontana focused particularly on the series of the Olii, whose works, devoted to an evocation of the city of Venice, were shown at his first U.S. solo exhibition at the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York (1961). In the same year, inspired by the vibrancy of New York, the artist also conceived the Metalli works composed of mirrored sheets on which he acted by tearing and cutting the surface. Several exhibitions were dedicated to Fontana during these years of unstoppable inventive streak in Milan, Venice, Tokyo, London and Brussels. On the iconographic renewal front, a significant testimony was the series of the Fine di Dio (1963-1964): composed of oval-shaped canvases, monochrome or sometimes sprinkled with sequins, shot through with holes and tears, exhibited first at the Aries Gallery in Milan and later at the Iris Clert Gallery in Paris. From here, Fontana tested his creativity with the series of the Teatrini (1964-1966), works in which lacquered wooden frames are shaped and compose differentiated forms. 1966 was then the year of major international successes: Fontana’s solo exhibitions were held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Marlborough Gallery in New York, and Galerie Alexander Iolas in Paris. Notably in Italy, at the XXXIII Venice Biennale, a room dedicated to him stood out. Collaborating with Architect Carlo Scarpa, the artist created a labyrinthine oval environment illuminated in white light. Within this space, white canvases intersected by a single cut traversed the area, creating an extraordinary work that resonated profoundly and earned the event’s top prize. In 1967, strict mono chromaticism reached its apex alongside a growing tendency to tear canvases with increasingly deliberate and fundamental marks. This was epitomized by the Ellissi series: lacquered wooden boards, elliptical in shape and adorned with various colors, punctuated by machine-made holes, reflecting advancements in technique.
In early 1968, Lucio Fontana left his studio on Corso Monforte and relocated to Comabbio, situated in the province of Varese. It was there that he passed away on September 7 of the same year. Fontana’s works lives in the collections of major national and international institutions, including the Tate Modern in London, MoMA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, the Mart in Rovereto, and the MADRE Museum in Naples.
