Following the Second World War, in Italy, Spatialism and Nuclear Art represented two strongly original and alternative movements in contrast with the official trend, at that time aligned in unproductive opposition between Realism and Abstraction. This extremely active artistic polarity appeared in a Milan just emerging from the tragedy of the war, but very quickly launched towards reconstruction. Both movements were projected towards a coexistent objective, an affiliation with the “atomic” and “spatial” era which had opened “infinite new creative horizons”. The polymorphic and idealistic aspirations, reluctant to remain within the limits of style and content, that characterised both movements despite their differences, were a fertile terrain for the expansion of initial groups, the evolution of individual artists, and the development of important international dialogue. Based on cataloguing and study of the extensive and important body of Spatial and Nuclear works in the Luciano Lanfranchi Collection, this publication retraces the birth and development of Spatialism and the Nuclear Art Movement, placing them in the coeval context of Italian and international research.

Each volume will include an extensive historical-critical introductory essay by Luca Massimo Barbero, illustrated with partial or full-page works and documents. One or several articles on specific topics are published with each illustration; the plates and data sheets from the Lanfranchi Collection are introduced with a critical-biographic description for each author; the publication includes a revised, updated section on certain material (history of both movements, exhibition list, bibliography, and a possible anthology of writings, including interviews and critiques from the period).