Lucio Fontana
©image: Lothar Wolleh
1899 - 1968
Born in Rosario di Santa Fé (), died in Varese ().
The Argentine-Italian visual artist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) has broadened and deepened the avant-garde of the mid-twentieth century with new concepts such as environments and Spatialism. His oeuvre consists mainly of abstract work; monochrome paintings and massive sculptures that he cuts into to add a spatial dimension. He calls this type of work work Concetto Spaziale or 'spatial concept'. Fontana brings image and space together by adding a visible intervention whereby the light becomes involved in the perception of the canvas or object. With Fontana there is no longer any question of different disciplines such as painting or sculpture, but rather of an integrated work that fuses elements of the installation (the artwork as a built-up object), the performance (the incision as action) and the environment (the artwork as environmental element).
Text: Hans Willemse
Translations: Michael Meert
Works
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Mario Bionda, Roberto Crippa, Journal with a.o. notes about the visit of Jef Verheyen to the studio of Lucio Fontana (February 1958), 1957-1959.Text, notebook, mixed media, 19,5 x 13,6 cm.
>Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, 1958.Ceramics, 17.8 x 14.5 x 14.5 cm.
No image
>Wim Van Gils, Frank Philippi, Antonio Berni, Enrico Baj, Gianni Dova, Edoardo Franceschini, Antonio Recalcati, Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Roberto Crippa, Telegram from Roberto Crippa to Jef Verheyen (1 April 1958), 1958.Letter, ink on paper, 2 sides.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, • 0721 • L'air est plein de ta chaleur, 1958.Painting, oil paint on canvas, 64 x 53 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Ivo Michiels, Lucio Fontana, Brief uit Milaan. Waar de avant-garde blijft voortbestaan, 1959.Article, ink on newspaper, collage.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Frank Philippi, Detail of 'Hommage à Fontana', 1959.Photography, black-and-white photograph.
>Frank Philippi, Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Reproduction of 'L'air est plein de ta chaleur', 1959.Photography, black-and-white photograph.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, SE LIBERER EST L'ACTION DE L'ESPRIT INDIVIDUEL, 1959.Text, ink on paper, 32,5 x 25,5 cm (folded).
>Jef Verheyen, Axel Vervoordt, Galerie Bernard, Lucio Fontana, • 0400 • Untitled (Pour Fontana), 1959-1960.Painting, oil paint on burlap, 100 x 82 cm.
>Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, 1960.Painting, water-based paint and slashes on canvas, 144 x 101 cm.
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Letter from Lucio Fontana to Jef Verheyen about friendship and artisthood (4 July 1961), 1961.Letter, ink on paper, 1 page.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Louis Bogaerts, Eveline Schlumberger, Le refuge insolite d'un homme d'affaires philosophe, 1961.Article, ink on paper, 8 p..
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Filip Tas, Louis Bogaerts, Lucio Fontana (left) and Jef Verheyen posing before their collaborative work 'Le Jour' at the home of the collector Louis Bogaerts, Knokke, 12 November 1962, 1962.Photography, photograph.
No image
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Publication of the exhibition 'Ceramiche di Fontana' in Galleria Pater, Milan, 1962.Book, ink on paper.
>Geert Verbeke, GAL, Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, • 0791 • Untitled, 1962.Sculpture, paint on slate, perforated.
>Jef Verheyen, Hermann Goepfert, Serge Largot, Nanda Vigo, Raymond Dauphin, Rochus Kowallek, Lucio Fontana, Gotthard Graubner, Jan van der Borgt, Maria Mara, Paul Ibou, Jos Macken, Frank-Ivo van Damme, Piet Sterckx, Christian Megert, Galerie Edith Wahlandt, Dominique Stroobant, Guy Stern, Lotte Lenya, Leon In den Kleef, Madeleine Everaert, Marlborough Gallery, Hergé, Roger Nellens, Hugues C. Pernath, The Antwerp Gallery , Albert Szukalski, Anselm Thürwächter, Galerie Bernard, Ivo Michiels, Blinky Palermo, Gerhard Richter, Guy Vaes, Vic Gentils, Adam Seide, Günther Uecker, Piero Manzoni, Jef Verheyen's Liber Amicis, 1962-1984.Other, mixed media on bound paper.
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Gerald Dauphin, Jef Verheyen and Lucio Fontana just before the opening of Fontana’s solo exhibition in Museum Morsbroich in Leverkusen, curated by Udo Kultermann, 1962.Photography, photograph.
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, • 0437 • Le Jour, 1962.Painting, oil paint on canvas, perforated, 211 x 140 cm .
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, • 0390 • Rêve de Möbius, 1962.Painting, matt lacquer on canvas, perforated, 113.5 x 146 cm / 116 x 148.5 cm with frame.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Hermann Goepfert, • 0153 • Untitled, 1963.Mixed Media, oil on perforated canvas, aluminium strips, angle irons, steel springs, 116 x 144 x 30 cm.
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Hermann Goepfert, Galerie situationen 60, Leaflet 'Lucio Fontana - Hermann Goepfert - Jef Verheyen' in Galerie Christian Chruxin – situationen 60, Berlin, 1965.Book, collage on paper.
>Hermann Goepfert, Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Galerie Loehr, Fritz Usinger, Opening speech for the exhibition 'Lucio Fontana - Hermann Goepfert - Jef Verheyen' at Galerie Löhlr (21 April 1965), 1965.Text, ink on paper, typoscript with annotations, 7 p..
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, • 813 • Les arbres roses (Pour mon ami Fontana), 1967.Painting, matt lacquer on fibreboard, mounted in a wooden square box, 72 x 72 cm.
No image
>Lucio Fontana, Jef Verheyen, Madeleine Everaert, • 0576 • Hommage à Fontana, 1972.Painting, matt lacquer on canvas, 130 x 130 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Notebook, 1973.Book, pencil and ink on paper, A4.
>Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Natura, 1982.Sculpture, 50 x 50 cm.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Coline Milliard, Major Unidentified Lucio Fontana Painting Authenticated After Decade of Research, 2014.Article.
>Jef Verheyen, Lucio Fontana, Postcard from Lucio Fontana in Paris to Jef Verheyen, 1959.Letter, ink on postcard.
>Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale: Attese.Painting, oil, canvas, 130,5 x 97,2 cm.
Exhibitions & Ensembles
No image
> Exhibition: Dialogue with Light: Walter Leblanc & Jef Verheyen. 27 October 2016 - 22 January 2016.
> Exhibition: gegen den Himmel. against the sky. 15 September 2024 - 23 February 2025.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verhejen. .
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 24 November 1956 - 14 December 1956.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 28 April 1966 - 10 May 1966.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 26 September 1972 - 15 October 1972.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. 26 April 1959 - 09 May 1959.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen 1955 - 1962: Antwerp - Düsseldorf - Milano. 27 February 2021 - 01 May 2021.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen and Friends. 11 September 2010 - 16 January 2011.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Peintures monochromes. 29 April 1960 - 05 June 1960.
No image
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen - Schilderijen. 17 October 1959 - 06 November 1959.
> Exhibition: Jef Verheyen. Window on Infinity. 23 March 2024 - 18 August 2024.
No image
> Exhibition: Klein - Rotraut - Uecker - Verheyen. 20 October 1965 - 07 November 1965.
No image
> Exhibition: Kreislauf der Farben. 28 September 1973 - 11 November 1973.
No image
> Exhibition: Lux est Lex. 01 March 2004 - 17 April 2004.
> Exhibition: Retrospectieve Jef Verheyen 1932-1984. 26 March 1994 - 13 June 1994.
> Exhibition: Retrospectieve Jef Verheyen 1932-1984. 10 July 1994 - 04 September 1994.
> Exhibition: Sanguine/Bloedrood. Luc Tuymans on Baroque. 01 June 2018 - 16 September 2018.
> Exhibition: The collection XXIX – Spirits of Internationalism: 6 European Collections 1956-1986. 20 January 2012 - 29 April 2012.
> Exhibition: Vision in Motion / Motion in Vision. 21 March 1959 - 03 May 1959.
> Ensemble: Het Concrete [The Concrete].
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - ARCHIVE.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Artist's Writings and Theory.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Atelier Les Talons.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Ateliers.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Ceramics .
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen Digital Platform.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Notebooks and Sketchbooks.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - OEUVRE.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Photographs.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Press Articles .
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Public Collections.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Shared Works.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1950s.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1960s.
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Works from the 1970s.
No image
> Ensemble: Jef Verheyen - Writings about the Artist.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 01.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 02.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 03.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 04.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 07.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 08.
> Ensemble: Window on Infinity - Room 10.