Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale. Photo Sotheby"s

each: signed and numbered 321/500 on the underside; polished bronze, in two parts ; each: 27 by 22 by 22cm.; 10 5/8 by 8 5/8 by 8 5/8 in.  Executed in 1967. Estimate 30,000-40,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 70,850 GBP

PROVENANCE: Taglialatella Galleries, New York

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

LITERATURE: Exhibition Catalogue, London, Imago Art Gallery,  Lucio Fontana: Beyond Space, Milan 2008, p. 93, illustration of another example in colour

Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale. Photo Sotheby"s

incised with the artist's signature on the underside; painted terracotta; 20.3 by 25.4 by 12.7cm.; 8 by 10 by 5in.  Executed in 1958-1965. Estimate 50,000-70,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 67,250 GBP

This work is recorded in the archives of the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan under number 1367/52.

PROVENANCE: Private Collection, Italy

Jitsukawa Gallery, Japan

Private Collection, Japan

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale. Photo Sotheby"s

signed and dated 59; incised and punctured copper sheet; 22.5 by 22.9 cm.; 8 3/4 by 9 in.  Estimate 12,000-18,000 GBP - Lot Sold: 49,250 GBP

This work is recorded in the archives of the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milan under number 2178/74.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Bonin, Geneva

Private Collection, Japan

Gallery Art Point, Japan

Acquired by the present owner from the above

Lucio Fontana (1899 - 1968), Concetto Spaziale, Attese. Photo Sotheby

"swaterpaint on canvas; 65 by 54cm.; 25 5/8 by 21 1/4 in.  Executed in 1963.  Estimate 250,000-350,000 GBP - Unsold

PROVENANCE: Marcel Stal, Brussels

Galleria Internazionale, Milan

Centro Arte Internazionale, Milan

Moroni Collection, Mitano

Galleria Paolo Seno, Milan

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1985

LITERATURE: Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana Catologo Generale, Vol II, Milan 1986, p. 459, no. 63 T 38, illustrated

Enrico Crispolti, Lucio Fontana: Catologo Ragionato di Sculture, Dipinti, Ambientazioni, Vol II, Milan 2006, p. 645, no. 63 T 38, illustrated

NOTE: Executed in 1959, Concetto Spaziale, Attese represents an important work in the development of Lucio Fontana's most iconic series of 'tagli' or 'cuts' on canvas. Exquisitely crafted with disciplined precision, the sharp cuts take on a neat parallel rhythm, vertically traversing the canvas and tracing the course of the artist's hand. Almost meditative in its effect, their linear configuration is both clean-cut and absolute, the vibrant yellow surface here is penetrated to reveal the dark depths beneath. Celebrating the simplicity of his material and the visual drama of his gestures upon it, Fontana works the canvas like a sculptor, incising and shaping the cuts into the canvas. By breaking through the flat picture plane, he creates a contradictory impulse to go beyond the material, into the unknown, a fourth dimension. His penetration of the canvas interrogates an imaginary space, evoking infinite depth with each laceration. In Concetto Spaziale, Attese, Concetto, Fontana succeeds in showcasing the effects of gravity, creating the illusion of mass whilst suggesting a tension in the surface of the canvas. Although the cuts embody a certain degree of violence, the lyrical regularity of the composition and the pattern of pause and silence, restores equilibrium to the this exquisite example.

Sotheby's, Contemporary Art Day Auction, London, 14 Oct 2011 www.sothebys.com