Fontana knows well Venice that he often revisits with his wife Teresita. His square format also invites for a tribute to the urban balance of the Piazza San Marco, the theme of no less than four opus among the 22 artworks of the series.
On October 6 in London, Christie's sells as lot 106 one of the first eleven works. Located 'In piazza San Marco di notte con Teresita', it is certainly the best synthesis of the techniques used in this series : small holes and inlaid colored glassware on a heavy impasto of homogeneous color, a light-reflecting intense black for this specific case.
The holes form an almost regular outer square. The middle of the image is dotted with spots of color that express the artist's quest for a separation between the tangible space and the cosmos, like the glass windows in a church, anticipating the series of pierced oval canvases titled La Fine of Dio made in 1963-1964. This unconventional vision of Venice also responds to the artist's intention to promote an anti-bourgeois art.
SOLD for £ 10M including premium
Christie’s Italian Sale Leads with Fontana Venice Work https://t.co/A6MaXIui1B pic.twitter.com/yKp836era9
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) September 13, 2017