By Anne Doridou-Heim
The work appears simple at first glance: two bronze spheres that would be perfectly polished were they not lacerated. This gesture raises questions but is immediately explained by the artistic approach of Lucio Fontana, a major20th-century artist. By doing so, he sought to push the boundaries of sculpture, refusing to view it as a closed volume and, instead, introducing emptiness into it: no longer limited to matter, it opens up to space.
Lucio Fontana (1899–1968)
Concetto spaziale, Natura, 1967
Pair of polished brass sculptures, no. 301/500, each signed on the reverse, H. 27 cm.
Estimate: €80,000–120,000
© Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan / By SIAE / ADAGP, Paris, 2026
A native of Rosario, Argentina, and introduced to sculpture by his father, he rejected traditional forms in favor of Cubism and Futurism, and began working with humble materials. His interest in abstraction and material took on greater significance. After leaving to study in Milan and Turin and making several round trips, he settled permanently in Europe and moved to Italy. The year was 1947. The previous year, he had written his “White Manifesto,” a text destined to become famous for laying the foundations of his philosophy: an art based on the unity of time and space.
He found himself immersed in the avant-garde movements and took an interest in developments in physics and the subconscious. These ideas resonated powerfully with him, and he found himself at the forefront of a new movement: Spatialism.
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