La morocha
<p>Created in Lucio Fontana’s homeland of Argentina, <em>La morocha</em> was the artist’s final figurative sculpture before he turned to abstract painting and sculpture. The sharp, angular planes and emphatic folds of the subject’s clothing and hair animate the static form, reflecting Fontana’s interest in creating dynamism in his work. Modeled directly by hand in terracotta, the sculpture retains a certain sketchlike immediacy, with visible impressions of the artist’s fingers. In Argentina, the term <em>la morocha</em> commonly refers to a woman with dark hair, a feature here deliberately left uncolored by the artist.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1946
- Medium
- Terracotta and paint
- Dimensions
- 45 × 47 × 36 cm (17 3/4 × 18 1/2 × 14 1/8 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Lucio Fontana
Artist
Painting
Lucio Fontana’s body of work has come to be regarded as a powerful precedent for numerous 20th-century movements, including environmental art, performance art and Arte Povera. Born in 1899 in Argentina, Fontana moved with his family to Milan, Italy, in 1905. Fontana initially studied sculpture with his father, Luigi, and later at the Accademia de Brera. His first solo exhibition was held at the Galleria Il Milione in Milan in 1930. Fontana would continue to champion abstract art in Italy and abroad for the rest of his career.
Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina
Full artist profile →More
More by Lucio Fontana
Untitled
1968 · Lithograph and inkless intaglio
Portrait of Antonin Artaud
1968 · Multiple of wood and enamel with one copper die-cut plate, one steel die-cut plate, two plexiglass die-cut plates and one artist's book
Nude
1966 · Etching on white wove paper
Double page plate (pages 42 and 43) from L'albero poeta
1966 · Etching from an illustrated book with ten prints
Spatial Concept (Concetto spaziale)
1966 · Artist's book with gold paper leporello, punched with holes
Concetto Spaziale (Teatrino), plate 1, from the portfolio Quattro oggetti di Lucio Fontana e due poesie di Salvatore Quasimodo (Four Objects by Lucio Fontana and Two Poems by Salvatore Quasimodo)
1965 · One from a portfolio with four screenprint and die-cuts on aluminum foil
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Lucio Fontana
- Year
- 1946
- Medium
- Terracotta and paint
- Dimensions
- 45 × 47 × 36 cm (17 3/4 × 18 1/2 × 14 1/8 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1946-144078
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified