Lucio Fontana was born in Rosario de Santa Fé in 1899, son of a sculptor of Italian descent. He studied in Milan, and in 1922 he returned to Argentina with his father, with whom he worked until 1924, when he opened a sculpture studio on his own. Returning to Milan in 1928, he entered the Brera Academy and became a student of Adolfo Wildt, graduating in 1930. In the same year he made Uomo nero, which reveals a very personal style drawing from post Cubism. Always in 1930 he participated for the first time in the Venice Biennale with two groups, including the bronze Vittoria alata and then held his first solo exhibition at Galleria del Milione, where he exhibited regularly in subsequent years.