Link nur auf Unterseiten benutzbar

Lucio Fontana was born in 1899 in Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina, the son of a sculptor. In 1905 he moved to Italy, where he trained as a foreman at a building school and received additional artistic training at a school of arts and crafts in Milan and from his father. After the First World War, in which he served as a volunteer, he returned to Argentina and opened his own sculpture studio in 1924. In 1927 he continued his studies in Italy at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan under Adolfo Wildt. After graduating from the Academy in 1929, Fontana began his career in Italy's Fascist art system, which generously supported artists and used them for its own propaganda. He took part in several artistic projects in the service of Fascism and Mussolini, working closely with architects. During the Second World War he spent time in Argentina, where he created the famous 'Manifiesto Blanco' in 1946. A series of other manifestos on 'Spazialismo' followed in the years to come. In 1947 he returned to Italy, where in 1949 he revolutionised art with a new gesture: he pierced the canvas with a chisel. From this he developed the series of 'Buchi' - holes - and, from 1958, the series of 'Tagli' - cuts. In the 1950s and 1960s, Fontana took part in important exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and the documenta in Kassel, and continued to expand his series of works. His cut-out paintings are among his most famous works. Fontana died in 1968 in Comabbio, Varese.