CHAPTER 3. 1949–1968 Concetti spaziali by Lucio Fontana: A Historical-artistic and Technical Study

This study deals with Lucio Fontana's artworks, Concetti Spaziali, produced between 1949 and 1968, and reports the results of a larger research project on his technique, carried out in collaboration with the Fondazione Fontana by international, multidisciplinary work groups in the last decade, with a special focus on a selection of artworks from the series Olii (Oils) series. It is here demonstrated, how Fontana made use of oil paints containing different lipidic binders: a non-drying oil such as castor oil, a semi-drying oil such as rapeseed oil, and the traditional siccative binder, linseed oil. It is not clear if Fontana wished to experiment with different kinds of oils in order to achieve different effects or if he simply used ready-made paints without knowing their composition. In any case, the materials and techniques he used are here proven to be closely linked to the conservation problems exhibited by the pictorial layers.