Milan court rules Lucio Fontana painting authentic despite foundation rejection

The Milan Court's specialized business section ruled on June 11, 2018 (sentence no. 6542/2018) that an oil-on-canvas painting with a slash and graffiti (55×46 cm) by Lucio Fontana is authentic, contradicting the Lucio Fontana Foundation's classification of the work as irreparably compromised by an accident—the attachment of the stretcher directly to the paint—and therefore discarded by the artist. The foundation argued the painting lacked signature and date, unlike other original Fontana works. The court rejected this, noting that scientific analysis proved the stretcher was attached while the paint was still fresh, not later, and found no evidence of an 'insurmountable gap between the creation as intended by the master' and the disputed work. The judges concluded the painting was an isolated, atypical, eccentric piece within Fontana's oeuvre but nonetheless made by the artist, with no proof of a contextualized reconsideration based on certain factual circumstances. However, the court denied the request to include the work in the official catalogue managed by the foundation, stating that the foundation's authentication activity is based on its own unquestionable judgment and that such freedom of opinion is unenforceable.