Fontana, Lucio

Lucio (1899-1968). Italian artist. In 1961, he designed three dresses that were manufactured in the atelier of Bruna Bini and Giuseppe Telese in Milan. They were sheath dresses, typical of the 1970s, on which Fontana put his unmistakable mark: a vertical cut on the yellow dress, a horizontal line of holes at waist height on the silver one, and six vents arranged in two rows for the black one. He later repeated the experience in partnership with Mila Schön. The inspired inventor of “Spatialism,” and without doubt a major figure on the international art scene in the 20^th century (he was born in Rosario de Santa Fé, Argentina, but lived and worked in Milan), he overcame the barriers that separated different art forms. He succeeded in creating tension between the cut of a garment and the holes that he designed in it, and gave life to the expressivity of material things, even in works that were small in size, such as some of his jewellery, in particular the unique pieces. Between 1957 and 1967, Fontana designed many pieces of jewellery, including rings, bracelets, and brooches, all with cuts, holes, and precious stones. Two unique pieces created in 1962 were a gold ring with a cut and a brooch in a horizontal cut with two blue crystals. In 1967, he worked with the goldsmiths at Gem Montebello, creating Ellisse, a bracelet with a silver cut, skillfully lacquered, and produced in 150 copies signed and numbered and 200 copies not signed.