Le Onde: Waves of Italian Influence

This catalogue is published in conjunction with the exhibition: Le Onde: Waves of Italian Influence, 1914–1971 organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC September 16, 2015—January 3, 2016.

Le Onde: Waves of Italian Influence, 1914–1971 is an exhibition of nearly twenty works from the Museum’s collection and follows Italian contributions to the transnational evolution of abstraction, through movements and tendencies such as Futurism, Spatialism, Op art and Kinetic art. A pivotal figure in the exhibition is Lucio Fontana, who was born in Argentina to Italian parents and divided his career between the two countries. Embracing the energy and ideas of the technological age was an international phenomenon, and Fontana was central to developments, not only in Italy, but throughout Europe and Latin America.