The book *Lucio Fontana: Origins and Imagery* is now available online in two editions—Italian and English. This publication brings together contributions from twenty international scholars and art historians dedicated to the work of one of the leading figures of the 20th century. This publication was produced by the Lucio Fontana Foundation andthe Institute for Art History of the Giorgio Cini Foundation, following the international conference held in December 2024 on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, with the support of Intesa Sanpaolo.
Edited by Silvia Ardemagni, Luca Massimo Barbero, and Maria Villa, the volume is available for free on the websites of the two institutions via open access, with the aim of promoting the widest possible dissemination of its content among students, researchers, art professionals, collectors, and enthusiasts. The digital publication will be followed by a print edition. The essays trace Lucio Fontana’s entire artistic career, from his early years in Argentina to the exhibitions that helped establish his international reputation. The volume offers an up-to-date synthesis of scholarship on the artist, while also highlighting new avenues of research.
The publication opens with a series of essays dedicated to the imagery that fueled Fontana’s avant-garde work. Ester Coen explores the Futurist roots of the artist’s thought, while Nico Stringa analyzes his relationship with Arturo Martini’s workshop. Francesco Tedeschi, on the other hand, focuses on the theme of creative abstraction through the projects and sculptures of the 1930s, while Valerio Terraroli offers a reinterpretation of Italian ceramics from the 1930s and 1940s. Finally, Giovanni Bianchi reconstructs the relationship between Fontana and Mario Deluigi, highlighting the different sensibilities present within Spatialism.
Another group of studies is dedicated to the places linked to Fontana’s artistic biography and their cultural significance. Daniela Alejandra Sbaraglia traces his formative years between Rosario and Milan, while Lorena Mouguelar examines the so-called “new sensibility” in Argentine art. Luca Bochicchio focuses on the experience at the Albisola kiln, Sileno Salvagnini analyzes the artist’s participation in the Biennales, and Giorgina Bertolino explores the relationships he established with Turin’s cultural scene in the 1960s.
Ample space is also devoted to the artist’s international success during the 1950s and 1960s. Paolo Campiglio reconstructs the role played by the art dealer Charles Damiano in relations between England and the United States; Silvia Bignami revisits the Parisian experience, described as a “cold shower”; while Stefano Turina traces the reception of Fontana in Japan, an area still largely unexplored by art history.
The theme of the exhibitions is addressed through a series of case studies that played a significant role in shaping the artist’s critical reputation. Luca Pietro Nicoletti examines the interpretation proposed by Enrico Crispolti; Francesco Guzzetti reinterprets the 1966 solo exhibition at the Walker Art Center; and Choghakate Kazarian focuses on the retrospective at the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris. Marina Pugliese, meanwhile, addresses Fontana’s presence at the Pirelli HangarBicocca, while Cristina Beltrami analyzes the exhibition organized by Hauser & Wirth in New York. Alongside historical and critical issues, the volume also devotes space to the material aspects of the work. Barbara Ferriani offers an analysis of the practices, techniques, and conservation issues related to the artist’s works. The publication concludes with a contribution by contemporary artist Gianni Caravaggio, who interprets the “Spatial Concept” as a device capable of generating and performing primary images.
“The conference and book feature scholars from different generations: we asked them not to compile an inventory, but to draw, through multiple voices, a clear map of the work and its reception, from the early years in the River Plate region to the exhibition that gave form to the myth,” says Luca Massimo Barbero, director of the Institute for the History of Art.
“We proceeded by selecting emblematic moments and themes that allow us to reconsider the chronologies and geographical horizons within which the artist operated. The result is a network of paths whose direction can still be defined today,” say Silvia Ardemagni and Maria Villa, president and vice president of the Lucio Fontana Foundation.
 |
| Lucio Fontana: A book featuring new international studies on the artist is now available online |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
IT
FR
DE
ES
CN