Concetto spaziale - Attese, 1962 – 1963

About the Work

An illusion destroyed: the canvas displays four cuts. For centuries, the semblance of space was created in painting by means of perspective and the modelling of light and shade. By slashing the canvas – which, as the picture support, is the basic condition for all painting – Lucio Fontana breaks with this tradition. He transforms the canvas into a relief and, in the process, the colour becomes a spatial element. But a new, imaginary space also opens up behind the work, and is united with real space through the cut surface.