La Fine di Dio (FD) is an outstanding sub-series of 38 opus in similar shape and size within Fontana's generic quest for the Concetto Spaziale. FD 24 was sold for $ 21M including premium by Christie's on November 12, 2013. It is now listed by Christie's in London on October 4, lot 115.
Meanwhile FD 22 was sold for £ 16M including premium by Sotheby's on October 15, 2015 and one of the ultimate FD examples was sold for $ 29M including premium by Christie's on November 10, 2015.
I narrated FD 24 as follows before the 2013 sale.
Lucio Fontana conceives art as an interpretation of the mysteries of the unlimited universe. Art needs a supporting material such as canvas or sculpture, that he will cut or pierce for providing an access to beyond. A contemporary of Barnett Newman, he is also a predecessor of Yves Klein.
Fontana feels that he is living in the space era. The development of the space travel matches his illusion that some infinity can now be reached. The generic title of his works, Concetto spaziale (space concept), brings together a variety of formats on which he materializes his research.
In 1963, when he opts for ovoid shaped canvases 178 x 123 cm, he knows that he reaches the best possible synthesis of his thought and he subtitles this series La Fine di Dio. Following Nietzsche, he does not really desire the death of God. He wants to be a keen interpreter.
All paintings of La Fine di Dio are monochrome but they differ from one another in a wide range of colors. The holes are large or small, and their arrangement can be either as random as the craters of the moon or in an elegant form of constellations that bring some order to the chaos. They should be displayed together for understanding the whole mystical approach of the artist.
In FD 24 the positioning of hollows is curvilinear, providing to this flat canvas the three-dimensional illusion of an egg, source and symbol of life.
SOLD for £ 17M including premium
Meanwhile FD 22 was sold for £ 16M including premium by Sotheby's on October 15, 2015 and one of the ultimate FD examples was sold for $ 29M including premium by Christie's on November 10, 2015.
I narrated FD 24 as follows before the 2013 sale.
Lucio Fontana conceives art as an interpretation of the mysteries of the unlimited universe. Art needs a supporting material such as canvas or sculpture, that he will cut or pierce for providing an access to beyond. A contemporary of Barnett Newman, he is also a predecessor of Yves Klein.
Fontana feels that he is living in the space era. The development of the space travel matches his illusion that some infinity can now be reached. The generic title of his works, Concetto spaziale (space concept), brings together a variety of formats on which he materializes his research.
In 1963, when he opts for ovoid shaped canvases 178 x 123 cm, he knows that he reaches the best possible synthesis of his thought and he subtitles this series La Fine di Dio. Following Nietzsche, he does not really desire the death of God. He wants to be a keen interpreter.
All paintings of La Fine di Dio are monochrome but they differ from one another in a wide range of colors. The holes are large or small, and their arrangement can be either as random as the craters of the moon or in an elegant form of constellations that bring some order to the chaos. They should be displayed together for understanding the whole mystical approach of the artist.
In FD 24 the positioning of hollows is curvilinear, providing to this flat canvas the three-dimensional illusion of an egg, source and symbol of life.
SOLD for £ 17M including premium
Christie's celebrates pioneering Italian identity with masterpieces of 20th century #ItalianArt, to be offered in #London on 4 October during the #ThinkingItalian auction, led by Lucio Fontana’s career-defining work, Concettospaziale Fine di Dio https://t.co/wtqWYGpEcd pic.twitter.com/ttI8WNvTSW
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) October 1, 2018
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