Inaugurated in 1909, Italian Futurism was the first major avant-garde movement of the twentieth century, one that was destined to have numerous repercussions. And since F.T. Marinetti and his colleagues continued to be active until 1944, it enjoyed a much longer life than most of the other movements. Ironically, in view of its obvious importance, the history of Futurismʹs reception has been rather frustrating. Despite the provocative manifestos and outrageous public performances that earned its members international fame, their achievements have received relatively little recognition. The fact that Futurism provided an important model for many later movements, which adopted its...

Following the publication of the first Futurist manifesto in February 1909, Marinetti focused his attention on two antiquated symbols that stood in the way of aesthetic progress. In a second manifesto, ʹUccidiamo il chiaro di luna!ʹ (Letʹs murder the moonlight!), published one month later, he recounted how he and a band of Futurist supporters (supposedly recruited from an insane asylum) managed to vanquish the moon with hundreds of dazzling light bulbs. In order to realize the program that Futurism envisioned, this and other symbols exploited obsessively by previous poets needed to be abolished. Like the symbol of moonlight, which the...

Like their Venetian neighbours to the east, the residents of Padua witnessed considerable Futurist activity. Returning to Milan following their initial triumph in Venice, the Futurists organized aseratain the ancient university town on 3 August 1910. Besides Marinetti, they included Umberto Boccioni – who had studied art in Padua previously – Paolo Buzzi, Carlo Carrà, Enrico Cavacchioli, Armando Mazza, Aldo Palazzeschi, and Luigi Russolo.¹ Situated in the Sala della Gran Guardia, the performance was similar (if not identical) to that which took place in Venice.² The evening began with Marinetti reading his ʹDiscorso futurista ai Venezianiʹ (see chapter...

In contrast to the two previous cities, which experienced Futurist activity almost from the beginning, Verona encountered the movement somewhat later. Although Marinetti and his colleagues passed through the city repeatedly, on their way to Padua or Venice, they did not attempt to enlist its inhabitants in the Futurist cause. Perhaps they thought it would be a waste of time, or perhaps they were in too great a hurry. Whatever the explanation, Futurism did not arrive in Verona until after the First World War had begun. Between 1909 and 1914, the Futurists preferred to hold their exhibitions and their notorious...

Ironically, Scurto was a much better poet than his contributions to16 liriche arditewould suggest. Indeed, Claudia Salaris calls him the most interesting writer of the whole group.¹ Published inFuturismoin 1932, the following poem is much more typical. Flying over the Dalmatian port of Trogir (Traù in Italian), Scurto hears church bells ringing and observes his airplaneʹs reflection in the shiny metal structures below. Responding to what he fondly imagines to be the townʹs greeting, he dips his wings in a quick salute.

volare sui tubi infiam

mati del sole cromo

alluminio amplifica

tori del mio saluto...

As we have seen, the evolution of Futurism followed different patterns in Venice, Padua, and Verona. Although Marinetti and his colleagues visited all three cities in the beginning, the seeds they planted grew at separate rates. While a Venetian group espoused the Futurist cause as early as 1910, artists and writers in Padua waited twelve years before founding a similar group. And while Verona witnessed some local Futurist activity beginning in 1915, the Gruppo Futurista Veronese did not emerge until the late 1920s. Despite Venetian Futurismʹs robust appearance and precocious history, the movement dissolved in the early 1930s when Renzo...