Two floors of drawings and sculptures dedicated to the work of the Argentine-Italian master

Lucio Fontana is making a dual appearance starting at the Palazzo Vecchio for the Giacometti-Fontana exhibition. The Search for the Absolute and just half a mile away, the Museo Novecento is hosting Lucio Fontana. L’Origine du Monde from March 2 – September 13, 2023.

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. Fontana is known as the founder of Spatialism, an artistic movement which combines elements of time, space, and movement into artwork.

Lucio Fontana. L’Origine du monde curated by Sergio Risaliti is two floors dedicated to a collection of drawings and small sculptures to explore Fontana’s extensive search to understand matter, life, procreation, and what lies between the physical and infinite world. The Argentine-Italian painter, fascinated by Spatial concepts, tackles large phenomena of spatial concepts through his artwork.

Art will remain eternal as a gesture but will die as matter
Lucio Fontana, Spazial 1948

Lucio Fontana’s Artistic Explorations at Museo Novecento

The exhibit titled L’origine du monde, shares the same name as a controversial French painting by Gustave Courbet, found in the Museo d’Orsay. L’origine du monde by Courbet is a painting of a close up of a woman’s genitals, alluding to the source of human creation. Fontana’s exhibition shares similarities of the French painting, yet refers to a broader perspective of the fertility of all nature.

The exhibit includes paintings with holes and cuts, images of women’s bodies, and space-like sculptures offering various interpretations including the female generative force and of the universe. Although Fontana’s work may not seem as controversial as Courbet’s was in the nineteenth century, this exhibit is bound to raise eyebrows and spark conversation.