Lucio Fontana: On the Threshold

Candela, Iria, with essays by Emily Braun, Enrico Crispolti, Andrea Giunta, Pia Gottschaller, and Anthony White
2019
236 pages
229 illustrations
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Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), a major figure of postwar European art, blurred numerous boundaries in his life and his work. Moving beyond the slashed canvases for which he is renowned, this book takes a fresh look at Fontana’s innovations in painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and installation art.

Fontana was an important figure in both Italy and his native Argentina, where he pushed the painterly into the sculptural and redefined the relationship between mediums. Archival images of environments, public commissions, installations, and now-destroyed pieces accompany lavish illustrations of his work from 1930 to the late 1960s, providing a new approach to an artist who helped define the political, cultural, and technological thresholds of the mid-twentieth century.

Met Art in Publication

Impression of Amélie de Montfort, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux  French, Terracotta, French, Paris
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
ca. 1867–69
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Umberto Boccioni  Italian, Bronze
Umberto Boccioni
1913, cast 1950
Platter, Bernard Palissy  French, Lead-glazed earthenware, French, Paris
Bernard Palissy
last quarter 16th century
The Crucifixion, Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro)  Italian, Tempera transferred to canvas, laid down on wood, gold ground
Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro)
possibly ca. 1440

Citation

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Candela, Iria. 2019. Lucio Fontana: On the Threshold. New York: Metropolitan museum of art.