Key

1. Marinetti: The Manifesto of Futurism 1909
2. Marinetti: Zang Tumb Tumb 1912
3. Marinetti: The Dirigible 1915
4. Marinetti: Manifesto to the Fascist Government 1923
5. Marinetti: Futurist Cookbook 1932
6. Prampolini: Film 1917
7. Prampolini: Mussolini's Blackshirts 1919 1933
8. Prampolini: Design for Hall, Decoration and Furnishings for Aeronautica Company: Plan for Milan Triennial Installation 1932/3
9. Prampolini: Dinamica dell’azione (Miti dell’azione, Mussolini a cavallo) 1939
10. Prampolini: Il pilota dell' infinito 1931
11. Paladini: Ballo Meccanico Futurista 1922
12. Paladini: Manifesto Dell'Arte Meccanica Futurista 1922
13. Paladini: Il Museo 1925-6
14. Paladini: Movimento e Spazio 1930
15. Paladini: I Giochi Olimpici 1933-4

A. Introduction

B. Quote: Marinetti's Call For a Futurist Revolution 1912

C. Quote: Gramsci on Futurism 1916

The first room is an introductory room. This room provides the visitors with a general overview of the Futurist movement, embedding the three artists of the exhibition within the historical context of the artistic movement.The second room will display four of Marinetti's most influential pieces, with a quote of his on the wall. This leads onto a cinema room, marking the start of the Prampolini section of the exhibition. This room highlights how the regime's patronage of the arts contributed to the depiction of Fascist ideals in many Futurist artworks. The final room will display the work of Paladini, depicting the diversity within the Futurist movement. This room is partitioned, with Paladini's Futurist Mechanical Ballet projecting on one side of the wall.

This exhibition demonstrates, through the artefacts, that while Italian Futurism was a predominately reactionary artistic movement that had its roots in the same ideals as Fascism, differing levels of commitment to the regime can be seen between the three artists.

A: Introduction: The Origins of Futurism

Futurism’s development in Italy cannot be examined independently from Fascism; with Futurism arguably laying the key aesthetic foundations for Fascism, and Mussolini's patronage of 'arte di'statto' providing a platform for many of the movement's artists This exhibition will investigate three significant and diverse figures within the Futurist movement: Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti, Enrico Prampolini and Vinicio Paladini, and explore through their works both the relationship between their art and Fascist politics, and their commitment to this relationship. Ultimately, the commitment to fascism varies within the Futurist movement, with a consistent shared value of the desire for cultural rejuvenation and the presence of art in everyday life. Marinetti’s commitment to the rejection of the past could not fit within the confines of Mussolini’s rhetoric of rejuvenation through tradition, and he was inevitably abandoned by Mussolini. Prampolini provides a key example of how Mussolini’s patronage of ‘state art’ led many Futurists to move towards a more consistent display of Fascist ideals. Paladini views Futurism through a Marxist lens, showing that the artistic movement could be utilised to critique the regime. Ultimately, the Futurist movement was built on diversity and a constant, unblinking focus on the future, so naturally the responses of Futurist artists will conflict with each other.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: The Father

B:

"I call for a typographic revolution directed against the idiotic and nauseating concepts of the outdated and conventional book, with its handmade paper and seventeenth century ornamentation of garlands and goddesses, huge initials and mythological vegetation, its missal ribbons and epigraphs and roman numerals. The book must be the Futurist expression of our futurist ideas ... even more: My revolution is directed against what is known as the typographic harmony of the page, which is contrary to the flux and movement of style." - Marinetti, Typographic Revolution, 1913

Marinetti, Typographic Revolution, 1913

The Futurist’s manifesto’s celebration of speed, machinery, violence and youth, and its rejection of the laissez-faire social model outline this artefact almost as a precursor to Fascist politics. However, the Manifesto's obsession with Italy’s social and cultural rejuvenation, including demolishing museums and libraries, omits ideas of the mythologisation and sacralisation of Italy's past glory. Even 13 years before Mussolini’s rise to power, it is clear the Futurist agenda is not perfectly compatible with Fascist ideology. Rather, Futurism hails just one set of principles that will later be adopted by Fascism.

The modern use of disjointed, overlapping text on the poem’s cover demonstrates how Futurism departed from previous styles, in its effort to break down aesthetic rules. Clearly, Fascism’s aesthetic elements were largely inspired by Futurism: the mechanical connotations of the title give the impression of strength through industrial production. However, consistent through Marinetti’s work is the predominance of experimentation and rebellion over anything else. Contrastingly, Mussolini’s Fascism upheld the idea of cultural revolution through the inspiration of the past glory. This anticipates Mussolini’s future ambivalence regarding Futurism as State Art.

The strong lines and blocks in this piece outline Futurism as a proto-fascist aesthetic. The dirigible is a symbol which is seen frequently in Fascist propaganda and art after Mussolini’s rise to power. The emphasis on strength and machinery is consistent both in Fascist and Futurist aesthetics. Yet in typical Futurist fashion, the image of the dirigible is subverted, and appears as though it is falling, which perhaps suggests that ultimately, Marinetti is interested in controversy and rebellion from tradition and norms.

4. Excerpts from Manifesto to the Fascist Government - Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1923) Medium: Book with letterpress | Dimensions: 8 1/16 x 5 5/16" (20.4 x 13.5 cm)

‘It is his task to help us bring new life to the world of art, which is still dominated by obnoxious people and organisations’

‘We Futurists are only too happy to applaud in our not yet forty year old prime minister, a wonderfully futurist temperament’

This later Manifesto was published soon after Mussolini’s March on Rome. After a proposal from Mussolini, Marinetti agreed to lead the artistic side of the Fascist Regime. It is clear that despite this agreement, Marinetti is concerned only with how Fascism can support Futurism, rather than how Futurism can support Fascism. Marinetti views Fascism as a vehicle through which he can drive his own cultural agenda. Marinetti’s strident call for the rejuvenation of society through art abandons the nuance of Mussolini’s political plan which upholds the influences of the past as the basis of cultural revolution. This suggests that even at the beginning of Mussolini and Marinetti’s allyship, Marinetti’s commitment to Fascism was only to further the agenda of Futurism.

Marinetti’s culinary manifesto upheld the futurist value that the presence of art in everyday life will empower people to revolutionise their presence in society. The cookbook encouraged originality of food and the abolition of cutlery, and accused pasta of making people slow and heavy in body and spirit. This encapsulates Marinetti’s opportunistic relationship with Fascism: his loyalty to, and exploitation of its innovative, bold and dynamic side, and his contempt for its traditional side which upholds the roots of the Italian spirit. The fact that on the Decennale to the March on Rome, Marinetti published this controversial book which ridiculed an integral element of Italian identity demonstrates his nonchalant and opportunistic relationship with Fascist values.

Enrico Prampolini and the power of Fascist patronage

Prampolini's Film Room

6. Thaïs (1917) dir. Anton Giulio Bragaglia; set design Enrico Prampolini. Film

The only surviving Italian Futurist film, for which Prampolini was the set designer. Strong geometric shapes and unusually abstract set pieces for the time, such as the use of real smoke emitting from masks, create a sense of illusion and conflict as the film progresses. This displays the Futurist ideal of rejection of mainstream art, which would be echoed in Fascism’s foundational ideas of change and rebellion against the establishment - the compatibility of the two, at this early stage of Futurism, suggests Prampolini’s propensity for a commitment to Fascism.

A key example of aeropainting, Prampolini here exemplifies the Futurist obsession with machinery, displaying an abstract metallic shape surrounded by the sky in a celebration of the technological advancements in flight. This parallels the Fascist regime’s advocacy of the air force, such as the rise in trans-atlantic flights under General of Aviation Italo Balbo from 1928. Prampolini thus demonstrates the alignment between Fascism and the rise of ‘second Futurism’ which was continued by his later works which openly promoted the Fascist aeronautical achievements through public art, such as Le comunicazioni (1933) and Design for Hall… (1932-33).

The modern, sleek curves and celebration of technology that marked the clear departure from the art preceding the Fascist period, however the amphitheatre shape maintains some classical features. This suggests a commitment to the increasingly reactionary ideals of Fascism, and the honoring of Roman tradition. Prampolini’s artistic idealisation of flight thus continues into the territory of ‘state art’; despite having a Futurist underpinning, it serves the purpose of promoting the technological achievements of the Fascist regime, spn/ ecifically the growth of the air force.

Prampolini employs the classic Futurist feature of striking, angular linework to create a sense of speed and urgency, glorifying the Sorelian violence of the early years of the squadrismo in an example of one of Fascism’s foundational myths. This was featured in the Mostra Della Rivoluzione Fascista, highlighting Prampolini’s role as a key Fascist artist and promoter of the regime.

Painted during the onset of the Second World War, this piece encapsulates the Fascist ideals of the glorification of war and masculinity, with the strong, dominating figure of Mussolini on horseback as the leader and father figure that would lead Italy to greatness. Despite the sacralisation of the Duce and therefore the state, Futurist elements of speed and movement are contained within the painting, demonstrating how Prampolini amalgamated Facist ideals into the second wave of Futurism. This shows its importance to the regime as a key form of maintaining hegemony through populist art.

C:

“They [the Futurists] have grasped sharply and clearly that our age, the age of big industry, of the large proletarian city and of intense and tumultuous life, was in need of new forms of art, philosophy, behavior and language. This sharply revolutionary and absolutely Marxist idea came to them when socialists were not even vaguely interested in such a question.” - Antonio Gramsci 1916

Vinicio Paladini: The Leftist

Within the Italian Futurist movement, a particular fascination towards machinery can be seen. With the help of Ivo Pannaggi, Paladini created the Futurist Mechanical Ballet. The artists’ aimed to marry Futurist aesthetics with their recent support of Russian Constructivism and Communism. As such, the Ballet is centred around the robotic movements of a mechanical man, who represents a proletarian man morphing into the machinery he operates. This piece utilises Futurism’s relationship with progress and dynamic movement to metaphorically comment on the prevailing technological culture of Italy. Palladinni took inspiration from the literature of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital (1867), providing an early example of Italian Marxist Futurism.

In line with the arte meccanica (machine aesthetics) futurist movement, Paladini and Pannaggi believed machinery to be a central component of the era. This Manifesto asserted that a proletarian revolution was possible if humanity embraced machinery. Paladini’s illustration (left) of a humanoid physique, entangled in cogs, demonstrates this. The mechanised form represents the ‘proletario’ factory worker, attempting to emerge from the bonds of his labour. The Manifesto was shunned by the dominant futurists of the period for its espousal of radical theories. As such, Emilio Marinetti would produce a censored version of the text, removing any communist language. The altered copy contained a preface from Marinetti, as well as an attachment composed by Enrico Prampolini.

Il Museo presents a fusion of Paladini’s Futurist techniques with his newfound passion for photomontage. Composed after Italian Futurism’s commitment to Fascism, this piece does not contain the explicit Marxist imagery or language found in his earlier works. Mussolini’s tightening grip on Italian culture meant that Paladini had to subversively include Communist iconography and style in his work. Il Museo shows the lineage from his proletariat inspired pieces to his new artists ventures under Mussolini’s regime. While the brushstrokes of the piece are bold and straight, typical of Futurist art, his use of imagery through photomontage suggests a discontent towards the regime. The three pieces of art in the museum feature decapitated working-class figures, clandestinely signalling the death of proletarian liberty under totalitarianism. Il Museo’s two mediums juxtapose each other, with paint representing fascist futurism and photomontage signifying the proletarian struggle.

Created in 1928, the piece highlights the influence that his visit to Moscow had on his take of Futurism. In this piece Paladini diminishes the hand of the artist by focusing on movement in reality. He applies the tropes of futurism to photomontage, using a streamlined composition and dynamic imagery. The cut-outs work together in contrast, as the traditional figurative sculptures reach towards the modern architecture of a concrete staircase. The adjacent racetrack is a photo taken from the Fiat Lingotto plant. The car plant was renowned for its innovative rooftop racetrack and was located in Turin, a popular area for defective futurist artists. His intertwining use of futuristic aesthetics with Russian motifs insinuates his disdain towards Fascism.

Part of a series of photomontages that allegorically protested Italian Fascism. The Olympics Games.. The Roman iconography points towards Mussolini’s use of false nostalgia to invoke a national identity around Italy’s glorious past. Yet, the fact that the sculpture is castrated indicates his animosity towards the nostalgic promotion of italianità by the regime. In sum, Paladini’s imagery aims to critique those Italian artists who utilised nostalgic nationalism as a means to garner Mussolini’s favour and patronage.