(Rosario di Santa Fe, Argentina 1899 – 1968 Comabbio)
Concetto spaziale, Teatrino, 1964, waterpaint on canvas and lacquered wood frame, 84.5 x 104.5 cm

This work was executed in 1964.

Provenance:
Aldo Forte Collection, Rome
Galleria L’Isola, Rome
Centro Tornabuoni, Florence
Sotheby’s Milan, Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 12-13 March 1986, lot 249
Private Collection, Piacenza
Sotheby’s London, Contemporary Art Day Sale, 13th October 2012, lot 157
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Exhibited:
Florence, Centro Tornabuoni, Fontana, 1984, ill. in colour
Venice, Bevilacqua la Masa, 1987, ill. in colour
Ferrara, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Palazzo dei Diamanti,
Lucio Fontana e lo Spazialismo a Venezia, 1994-95

Literature:
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II, Brussels 1974, pp. 168-169, no. 64 TE 5, ill.
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Generale, Vol. II,
Milan 1986, p. 588, no. 64 TE 5, ill.
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. II, Milan 2006, p. 773, no. 64 TE 5, ill.

Towards the end of his life but arguably at the height of his creative power, having just completed the Fine di Dio series, Fontana started working on a group of works called Teatrini or „little theatres“. Between 1964 and 1966, the artist created works that comprised of a lacquered wooden frame that served as a “stage” through which we view the monochromatic canvas that was, in most cases, perforated with his signature buchi, or holes. In this way Fontana combined the conceptual and intellectual principles of his Concetto spaziale works with the playful imagery of theatres, an inspiration for which might have come from the onset of Pop Art in the early 1960s.
Concetto spaziale (Teatrino), 1964, is a highly minimalist and arresting early work that is pure in form and colour. The elegant, symmetrical and geometric shape of the frame, with its triangular form extending over the top part of the canvas, is typical of the earlier Teatrini, and differs significantly from the later more playful works in this series which often had frames cut into shapes that were reminiscent of forms from nature and that boldly protruded over the canvas.

Looking into the present work beyond its clean linear frame – there to serve a purpose of framing the work on its stage, but not so elaborate as to divert our attention from the canvas – our eyes wonder across the canvas which, with its deep maroon colour, enhances the spatial depth that Fontana was trying to capture in the Teatrini series, whilst its glossy lightly-coloured frame placed three centimetres away from the canvas creates a second plane in the picture, further evoking this perception of depth and acting as a window into Fontana’s depiction of infinite space.

Fontana’s buchi evoke the astral world, and it is difficult to look at these canvases – especially the ones where the holes are arranged so rhythmically – and not to think of constellations of stars in the sky. The subject of space exploration and discovery was at the front of public consciousness during the 1960s after Yuri Gagarin had made the first trip into space in 1961, and thus Fontana’s Teatrini works attempted to engage with and articulate a theme that was very culturally relevant.
The holes on the canvas in the present work have been carefully arranged in a linear pattern that reflects the symmetry of the frame, and contribute to a quiet and contemplative composition capable of transporting the viewer into Fontana’s imaginative realms.

Provenance:
Aldo Forte Collection, Rome
Galleria L’Isola, Rome
Centro Tornabuoni, Florence
Sotheby’s Milan, Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, 12-13 March 1986, lot 249
Private Collection, Piacenza
Sotheby’s London, Contemporary Art Day Sale, 13th October 2012, lot 157
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Exhibited:
Florence, Centro Tornabuoni, Fontana, 1984, ill. in colour
Venice, Bevilacqua la Masa, 1987, ill. in colour
Ferrara, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Palazzo dei Diamanti,
Lucio Fontana e lo Spazialismo a Venezia, 1994-95

Literature:
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II, Brussels 1974, pp. 168-169, no. 64 TE 5, ill.
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogue Generale, Vol. II,
Milan 1986, p. 588, no. 64 TE 5, ill.
Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol. II, Milan 2006, p. 773, no. 64 TE 5, ill.

Towards the end of his life but arguably at the height of his creative power, having just completed the Fine di Dio series, Fontana started working on a group of works called Teatrini or „little theatres“. Between 1964 and 1966, the artist created works that comprised of a lacquered wooden frame that served as a “stage” through which we view the monochromatic canvas that was, in most cases, perforated with his signature buchi, or holes. In this way Fontana combined the conceptual and intellectual principles of his Concetto spaziale works with the playful imagery of theatres, an inspiration for which might have come from the onset of Pop Art in the early 1960s.
Concetto spaziale (Teatrino), 1964, is a highly minimalist and arresting early work that is pure in form and colour. The elegant, symmetrical and geometric shape of the frame, with its triangular form extending over the top part of the canvas, is typical of the earlier Teatrini, and differs significantly from the later more playful works in this series which often had frames cut into shapes that were reminiscent of forms from nature and that boldly protruded over the canvas.

Looking into the present work beyond its clean linear frame – there to serve a purpose of framing the work on its stage, but not so elaborate as to divert our attention from the canvas – our eyes wonder across the canvas which, with its deep maroon colour, enhances the spatial depth that Fontana was trying to capture in the Teatrini series, whilst its glossy lightly-coloured frame placed three centimetres away from the canvas creates a second plane in the picture, further evoking this perception of depth and acting as a window into Fontana’s depiction of infinite space.

Fontana’s buchi evoke the astral world, and it is difficult to look at these canvases – especially the ones where the holes are arranged so rhythmically – and not to think of constellations of stars in the sky. The subject of space exploration and discovery was at the front of public consciousness during the 1960s after Yuri Gagarin had made the first trip into space in 1961, and thus Fontana’s Teatrini works attempted to engage with and articulate a theme that was very culturally relevant.
The holes on the canvas in the present work have been carefully arranged in a linear pattern that reflects the symmetry of the frame, and contribute to a quiet and contemplative composition capable of transporting the viewer into Fontana’s imaginative realms.