The Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents the first in-depth survey of Lucio Fontana’s ceramics

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents “MANU-FACTURE: The Ceramics of Lucio Fontana”, an exhibition that, for the first time, offers an in-depth examination of the ceramic production of Italo-Argentine artist Lucio Fontana (1899–1968). The show will be on view until March 2, 2026.

Although Fontana is world-renowned for his iconic slashed and punctured canvases of the 1950s and ‘60s, this exhibition casts a spotlight on a lesser-known but essential part of his oeuvre: his work in clay, which he began in Argentina in the 1920s and continued to explore throughout his life.

The exhibition brings together over seventy works, including several never previously exhibited, on loan from major public and private collections. It seeks to illuminate the full scope of Fontana’s sculptural vision in clay, revealing how he regarded the material over the years as a rich, generative site for experimentation.

Fontana’s ceramic output is notable for its diversity of forms, techniques, and subject matter: from figurative sculptures of women, sea creatures, harlequins, and warriors, to abstract forms. His approach to clay revived the age-old ritual of ceramics while embracing innovation.

The exhibition is curated by art historian Sharon Hecker.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION:

   Title: MANU-FACTURE: The Ceramics of Lucio Fontana

   Artist: Lucio Fontana

   Dates: Through March 2, 2026

   Venue: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy.

   Curated by: Sharon Hecker.

On the cover: Lucio Fontana in his studio with "Nature", 1959-1960
© Fondazione Lucio Fontana, Milano, by SIAE 2025