Paper Futurism: Imagining the Universe with the Art of Advertising

Raffaele Francisi: Ministero dell'Aeronautica, 1934

At San Gaetano in Treviso, the National Museum Collezione Salce presents, from March 1 to June 30, "Futurismo di carta (Paper Futurism)", part two, subtitled "Imagining the Universe with the Art of Advertising".

The exhibition, curated by Elisabetta Pasqualin with the collaboration of Sabina Collodel, is dedicated to the years preceding the Second World War, when, between 1930 and 1940, Futurism reached the peak of its development, with aeropainting transposed into graphics, exalting flight and aviation exploits, the aerial view reshaped in the approach to surrealism.

The posters, as well as the paintings, reflect the climate of the moment. In an Italy transforming from an agricultural to an industrial country, with the aeronautical and automotive industries at the center of the scene.

The chronicles emphasize the solitary exploits of Italian aviators, the new popular heroes. Italian wings break every speed, distance, and height record, becoming the clear testimony of a new, powerful state, a protagonist on the world stage. National pride grows, carefully catalyzed by the propaganda of the fascist regime.

The collective memory still retained the D'Annunzio enterprise of flying over Vienna in 1918, not to mention the legendary duels of Francesco Baracca in the skies over Montello. Francesco De Pinedo's feat is striking, gliding his Savoia Marchetti seaplane onto the Tiber, welcomed by Mussolini and a large crowd, after reaching Australia: 55,000 kilometers over the sea or the great rivers, in 80 stages. De Pinedo himself, a few months later, flew from Italy to the Americas, then returned to Italy. And with De Pinedo, the Vicenza-born Arturo Ferrarin, protagonist of the Rome-Tokyo raid and the flight record: 58 hours in a closed circuit. Italo Balbo in 1931 made the "mass flight" to Brazil; in '33, it was the turn of the Transatlantic Cruise, the Rome-New York flight to celebrate the regime's tenth anniversary.... read the rest of the article»

The spiraling over cities and countryside fascinates and involves artists who, like Depero - who grew up in Rovereto alongside aviation pioneer Gianni Caproni – want to experience flight. Deriving new visions from it, distancing themselves from earthly things, to renew their worldview.

"A surge, a leap in levels and values that is evident in painting as much as in advertising graphics," anticipates curator Elisabetta Pasqualin. "Bright and contrasting colors that were already in use in the early phase of Futurist graphics remain, but the lettering becomes less predominant, still participating in the movement and lines present in the poster but also returning to be explanatory complement of the images.

Naturally, the number of posters focused on the theme of flight and aeronautical events increases. The exhibition, alongside creations by Di Lazzaro, Martinati, Garretto, presents the "Manifesto for the Italian Aeronautical Exhibition," a 1934 work by the only female artist featured in the exhibition, Carla Albini.

The automobile-airplane duo, expressing dynamism and speed, is confirmed. In cars, streaks of color, racing circuits, zigzag and spiral lines.

The sky, the earth but also the water: speedboats racing, leaving deep wakes and launching high sprays, propellers in the foreground (Codognato, Riccobaldi Del Bava).

With the push towards sports activities, the body in motion becomes the protagonist of many posters of this moment, as a dynamic instrument: swimming, tennis, rugby (Mancioli, Boccasile).

The human figure is still interpreted in a modern key to embody the continuous novelties of industry: the Fiat man by Nizzoli or the anthropomorphic mechanism of the Sniafiocco by Araca (Enzo Forlivesi), for example.

Even the human face often becomes the subject of posters, broken down almost cubistically, geometricized or rendered almost dreamlike, as in the Illy Coffee poster by Xanti). Proposing a dreamlike and irrational vision, free from logical suggestions. And the graphics are already ready to turn the page.