Lucio Fontana is universally acknowledged as one of the foremost figures in the generation of artists who, in the 1950s and ’60s, helped bring about a radical conceptual and linguistic change in contemporary art. The role he played was already being pointed out by specialised critics in the early years of the post-war period, involving a growing number of scholars and admires, while also constituting a model for the young generation of artists in Europe. However it has been especially in the past two decades that Fontana’s work has achieved even greater international renown.

The catalogue – published on the occasion of the homonimous exhibition at Tornabuoni Art gallery in Rome – is the result of an extensive archival and iconographic research. The selection of works is enriched by historical documents and critical texts.

The essays by Enrico Crispolti, Luca Massimo Barbero, Piero Dorazio and Gillo Dorfles published in this book give great insight into the origins, content and features involved in the works and in the artistic movement that Fontana himself referred to as Spazialismo.