Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) Concetto spaziale, Attese. Executed in 1959. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010

indistinctly signed, titled, and inscribed 'l. fontana Concetto spaziale Oggi piove a Milano' (on the reverse), waterpaint on canvas, 28 7/8 x 29½in. (73.3 x 75cm.). Estimate £350,000 - £500,000

Provenance: Renato Radici, Milan.
Arturo Schiavone, Milan.
Galleria Medea, Milan.
Gino Lizzola, Milan.
Acquired by the present owner in the 1970s.

Literature: E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogue raisonné des peintures, sculptures et environnements spatiaux, vol. II, Brussels 1974, no. 59 T 40 (illustrated, p. 83).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogo generale, vol. I, Milan 1986, no. 59 T 40 (illustrated, p. 285).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, vol. I, Milan 2006, no. 59 T 40 (illustrated, p. 451).

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Concetto spaziale, Attese. Executed in 1962. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010

signed, titled and inscribed 'l. fontana concetto spaziale ATTESE 1+1 - 374ZZ' (on the reverse), waterpaint on canvas, 28½ x 23 5/8in. (72.5 x 60cm.). Estimate £300,000 - £400,000

Provenance: Collection del Vayo, Caracas.
Anon. sale, Sotheby's London, 10 February 2005, lot 19.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature: E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogue raisonné des peintures, sculptures et environnements spatiaux, vol. II, Brussels 1974, no. 62 T 11 (illustrated, p. 131).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogo generale, vol. II, Milan 1986, no. 62 T 11 (illustrated, p. 444).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, vol. II, Milan 2006, no. 62 T 11 (illustrated, p. 630).

Notes: 'With the slash I invented a formula that I don't think I can perfect. I managed with this formula to give the spectator an impression of spatial calm, of cosmic rigour, of serenity in infinity' (Fontana, quoted in E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, Vol. I, Milan 2006, p. 105).

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) Concetto spaziale. Executed in 1961. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd 2010

signed 'l. fontana' (lower right); signed and titled 'l. fontana Concetto spaziale' (on the reverse), oil on canvas, 39 3/8 x 31 7/8in. (100 x 81cm.). Estimate £200,000 - £300,000

Provenance: Galerie Rive Droite, Paris.
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 28 June 1990, lot 455.
Private Collection, U.S.A.
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 23 October 2001, lot 130.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Literature: E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogue raisonné des peintures, sculptures et environnements spatiaux, vol. II, Milan 1974, no. 61 O 105 (illustrated, p. 115).
E. Crispolti, Fontana, Catalogo generale, vol. I, Milan 1986, no. 61 O 105 (illustrated, p. 385).
E. Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catalogo ragionato di sculture, dipinti, ambientazioni, vol. II, Milan 2006, no. 61 O 105 (illustrated, p. 571).

Exhibited: Lissone, Ente Comunale del Mobile di Lissone, Undicesima Settimana Lissonese, XII Premio Lissone, 1961 (illustrated).
Paris, Galerie Rive Droite, 'Concetti spaziali' de Fontana: peintures 1949-61, November 1961, no. 9.
New York, Sperone Westwater, Lucio Fontana, February-April 2000, no. 7 (illustrated).

Notes: '...beyond perspective... the discovery of the cosmos is a new dimension, it is infinity, so I make a hole in this canvas, which was at the basis of all the arts and I have created an infinite dimension... the idea is precisely that, it is a new dimension corresponding to the cosmos... The hole is, precisely, creating this void behind there... Einsteins discovery of the cosmos is the infinite dimension, without end. And so here we have: foreground, middleground and background... to go farther what do I have to do?... I make holes, infinity passes through them, light passes through them, there is no need to paint (quoted in Enrico Crispolti, 'Spatialism and Informel. The Fifties' in Lucio Fontana, exh. cat., Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome 1998, p. 146).

Christie's. Post War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction. 11 February 2010. London, King Street www.christies.com