Franco Fontana, master of photography and colour, has died in Modena at the age of 92. Born in Cognento on 9 December 1933, during his long career he has obtained international prizes and recognition and his works are today preserved in over fifty museums around the world.
More than 400 exhibitions have seen him as protagonist and 70 books have been dedicated to him. Fontana has also signed numerous advertising campaigns, among others for Fiat, Volkswagen, Ferrovie dello Stato, Sony, Volvo, Versace, Canon, Kodak, Snam and Robe di Kappa. He has also collaborated with various newspapers, including Vogue USA and Vogue France, Il Domenica di Repubblica, Sette del Corriere della Sera and Times.
Color research and international success
Since the Seventies, Fontana has worked in search of an essential compositional style, based on color backgrounds, transforming nature and landscape into abstract shapes and almost geometric figures. With the monograph “Skyline”, published in 1978, his art was recognized internationally.
In 1999, for the Craf and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, he taught photography to New York elementary school children. He has collaborated, among others, with the Center Georges Pompidou and with the Ministries of Culture of France and Japan.
In 2006 he received an honorary degree in design from the Polytechnic of Turin, one of the numerous awards obtained during his career.