Lot 5. Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1969), Spatial concept, Waiting, signed, inscribed 1+1-732H and dedicated to Brutus on the reverse; partially titled WAITING on the stretcher, waterpaint on canvas, 22,4x16,5 cm; Framed: 28,5x22,5x4. Executed in 1960. Lot Sold 512,000 EUR (Estimate 250,000 - 350,000 EUR) © Sotheby's 2026

Provenance: Blue Gallery, Milan

Private collection, Milan

Private collection, Italy

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Literature: Enrico Crispolti, Fontana, General Catalogue , Milan 1986, vol. I, p. 338, n. 60 T 149, illustrated

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana, Catalogue Raisonné of Sculptures, Paintings, and Settings , Milan 2006, vol. I, p. 506, no. 60 T 149, illustrated.

Note : Executed in 1960, this refined Concetto spatial, Attesa stands as a precious testament to Lucio Fontana's most revolutionary period. The canvas, dominated by a vibrant blue hue, hosts a single, vertical cut : a gesture that is simultaneously an expression of absolute control and radical metaphysical freedom.

For Fontana, the slash is never a destructive act, but rather a means to propel the viewer's gaze beyond the physical reality of the painting toward what the artist defined as "free space." As suggested by the title Attesa , the work is not limited to the visual dimension but becomes a philosophical concept, evoking a state of being and an opening toward the unknown. Through this precise and essential laceration, Fontana transforms the two-dimensional canvas into a three-dimensional object, capturing the energy of movement and crystallizing it into an eternal action.

The use of saturated blue waterpaint enhances the purity of the form, allowing the weave of the canvas to emerge and creating a magnetic contrast with the darkness of the revealed void. In this work of intimate dimensions, the power of the single stroke catalyzes a complete metamorphosis: painting ceases to be representation and becomes an object, transcending the formal boundaries of traditional art.

Sotheby's. Modern and Contemporary Art, Milano, 27 May 2026