Fortunato Depero’s (1892–1960) discovery of textiles as a modern art form can be considered the most important development in his artistic career. It occurred between 1917 and 1919, when he and his wife, Rosetta Amadori, experimented with fabric constructions and realized that their textile creations, which he referred to interchangeably…

When the first Futurist manifesto was published in the French newspaper Le Figaro on February 20, 1909, no artist could properly define himself as a Futurist (figure 1). Written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, this founding document outlined the vision of a movement that had not yet been created. With its…

Today it is common to raise concerns about the ‘environmental impact’ of advertising in our lives and on the fabric of the city. Incredibly, already in 1903, the Milanese architect Luca Beltrami warned against the dangers of bright advertising columns, which he called “small annoyances of progress.” The people of…

The friendship between Fortunato Depero and Gianni Mattioli (figure 1) began in 1921, on the occasion of Depero’s solo show at the Palazzo Cova in Milan. Their relationship would ultimately become significant for both of them. It was through Depero that the young Mattioli was introduced to the Futurist movement,…

In the years 2013–2014, I conducted a study with a threefold purpose: to broaden our understanding of Fortunato Depero’s working methods, especially with regards to his paintings on moveable surfaces; to ascertain and verify these paintings’ state of conservation, and their relationship to the Depero’s techniques; and eventually to create…