italian republicconcept:era modern
Spatial Concept, Waiting
Oil on canvas by Lucio Fontana (1960). A monochrome ochre canvas with a single vertical slash — the definitive Tagli (cut) work of Fontana's Spazialismo. The slash literally opens the canvas surface into actual space, dissolving the boundary between image and environment. Tate Modern, London.
Scholarly Significance
Fontana's canonical Tagli (slash) canvas; Spatialism's single most iconic artwork; Tate anchor for the movement.
Notes
- ·Each 'Attesa' (Waiting) is unique; Fontana produced hundreds across different colors and slash configurations.
- ·Fontana worked the cut from behind the canvas, scoring it with a razor blade and pushing the canvas gently.
- ·The Tate example is ochre — he worked in every color: white, red, black, gold, blue.
- ·Conservation challenge: the canvas must not be stretched too tight, which would close the cut; not too loose, which would deform it.
- ·The most expensive single example sold for $28 million at Sotheby's (2015).