Red, 1959
Water-based paint on canvas
28.5 x 29.5 Inches
Lucio Fontana is celebrated for his groundbreaking work that includes slashed and punctured canvases, ceramic sculptures, and light-based installations. Fontana's relentless interest in surface and dimensionality helped blur the boundaries between two-dimensional and three-dimensional disciplines. As the founder of the Spatialism movement, he sought to integrate a fourth dimension into visual art, focusing on the spatial qualities of sculptures and paintings to transcend traditional two-dimensional constraints.
Fontana's most famous works are his monochrome canvases, known as Concetti Spaziali, which feature distinctive slashes and holes. These cuts imbue the works with a dynamic, almost violent energy, breaking the confines of the picture plane and suggesting infinite space beyond it. In his seminal "White Manifesto" (1946), Fontana articulated his vision for a new medium that would blend architecture, painting, and sculpture, aiming to "open up space, create a new dimension, tie in the cosmos."