Italian Modern Art in the Age of Fascism

215 Pages·2019·14.208 MB·English

by  Anthony White

Italian Modern Art in the Age of Fascism
This book examines the work of several modern artists, including Fortunato Depero,
Scipione, and Mario Radice, who were working in Italy during the time of Benito
Mussolini’s rise and fall. It provides a new history of the relationship between modern
art and fascism. The study begins from the premise that Italian artists belonging to
avant-garde art movements, such as futurism, expressionism, and abstraction, could
produce works that were perfectly amenable to the ideologies of Mussolini’s regime.
A particular focus of the book is the precise relationship between ideas of history and
modernity encountered in the art and politics of the time and how compatible these
truly were.
Anthony White is Senior Lecturer in the School of Culture and Communication at the
University of Melbourne, Australia.
Cover image: Fortunato Depero, War = Festival, 1925. Pieced wool, 330 x 243 cm (129.9 x 95.7 inches),
Roma, G alleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le
Attività C ulturali. © Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019.
Routledge Research in Art and Politics
Routledge Research in Art and Politics is a new series focusing on politics and govern-
ment as examined by scholars working in the fields of art history and visual studies.
Proposals for monographs and edited collections on this topic are welcomed.
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Italian Modern Art in the Age of Fascism
Anthony White
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Research-in-Art-and-Politics/book-series/RRAP
Italian Modern Art
in the Age of Fascism
Anthony White
First published 2020
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Taylor & Francis
The right of Anthony White to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: White, Anthony, 1964– author.
Title: Italian modern art in the age of fascism / Anthony White.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2019. |
Series: Routledge research in art and politics | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019011616 | ISBN 9780367196271 (hardback: alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780429203541 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Art—Political aspects—Italy—History—20th century. |
Fascism and art—Italy. | Modernism (Art)—Italy. | Art, Italian—20th century—
Themes, motives. | Ideology in art.
Classification: LCC N72.P6 W49 2019 | DDC 709.45/0904—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019011616
ISBN: 978-0-367-19627-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-20354-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
For Anne and Joseph

Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Plates xiii
Acknowledgments xiv
1 Introduction: Modernism, Fascism, and Cultural Rebirth 1
2 The Folk Machine: Fortunato Depero’s Cloth Pictures, 1919–1927 20
3 The Men Who Turn Around: Scipione and Religion in 1930 66
4 Mario Radice: Abstraction and Architecture, 1934–2014 113
5 Conclusion: Recreations and the Fascist Age 158
Bibliography 165
Index 185
Figures
1.1 Scipione, The Men Who Turn Around, 1930. Oil on panel,
99.8 × 79.5 cm (39.3 × 31.3 inches), Roma, Galleria Nazionale
d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Su concessione del Ministero
per i Beni e le Attività Culturali 2
1.2 M ario Sironi, The Shepherd’s Family, 1929. Oil on canvas,
160 × 215 cm (63 × 84.65 inches), FAI—Fondo Ambiente Italiano,
Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milano. Collezione Claudia Gian Ferrari.
Foto di Alberto Bortoluzzi, 2006 © Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI).
© Mario Sironi/SIAE. Copyright Agency 2019 5
1.3 Fausto Melotti, Sculpture n. 21, 1968 (reconstruction of 1935
original). Steel, 55 × 35 × 35 cm (21.65 × 13.78 × 21.65 inches),
Museo del Novecento, Milano. Copyright Comune di Milano—tutti
i diritti di legge riservati. © Fondazione Fausto Melotti 8
1.4 Carlo Carrà, Lot’s Daughters, 1919. Oil on canvas, 111 × 80 cm
(43.7 × 31.5 inches), The Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art of Trento and Rovereto, Collezione VAF-Stiftung. Further
reproduction in any medium is prohibited © Carlo Carrà /SIAE.
Copyright Agency 2019 10
1.5 Giorgio de Chirico, The Mute Woman, 1920. Oil on canvas,
65 × 47 cm (25.6 × 18.5 inches), Private collection. Mondadori
Portfolio/Walter Mori/Bridgeman Images © Giorgio de Chirico/
SIAE. Copyright Agency 2019 11
2.1 Depero Room at the Grand Palais: International Exposition
of Decorative Arts, Paris, 1925. Photograph, The Museum of
Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato
Depero archive. Further reproduction in any medium is prohibited.
© Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 21
2.2 The Depero Art House, Rovereto, Depicting Work in Progress,
1920. Photograph, The Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero archive. Further
reproduction in any medium is prohibited. © Fortunato Depero/
Copyright Agency 2019 22
2.3 Fortunato Depero, Serrada, 1920. Pieced wool, 330 × 245 cm
(129.9 × 96.5 inches), The Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art of Trento and Rovereto. Further reproduction in any medium is
prohibited. © Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 23
Figures ix
2.4 Fortunato Depero, War = Festival, 1925. Pieced wool, 330 × 243 cm
(129.9 × 95.7 inches), Roma, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e
Contemporanea. Su concessione del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività
Culturali. © Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 26
2.5 Fortunato Depero, War: The World’s Only Hygiene, 1934. Medium
and dimensions unknown. Photograph, The Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero
archive. Further reproduction in any medium is prohibited.
© Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 28
2.6 Giacomo Balla and Fortunato Depero, Futurist Reconstruction of
the Universe: Futurist Manifesto—11 marzo 1915, 1915. Leaflet,
29.2 × 23 cm (11.5 × 9.1 inches), The Museum of Modern and
Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero
archive. Further reproduction in any medium is prohibited.
© Fortunato Depero/Giacomo Balla/Copyright Agency 2019 30
2.7 Fortunato Depero, Elements of the “Plastic Flora” for “The
Song of the Nightingale”, 1916. Dimensions unknown, lost.
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and
Rovereto, Fortunato Depero archive. Further reproduction in any
medium is prohibited. © Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 30
2.8 Fortunato Depero, Figures for the “Plastic Ballets”, 1918.
Dimensions unknown, lost. The Museum of Modern and
Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero
archive. Further reproduction in any medium is prohibited.
© Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 31
2.9 Fortunato Depero, City Mechanized by Shadows, 1920. Oil on
canvas, 120 × 190 cm (47.2 × 74.8 inches), private collection.
Photograph, The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero archive. Further
reproduction in any medium is prohibited. © Fortunato Depero/
Copyright Agency 2019 37
2.10 Fortunato Depero, Wooden Father and Son, 1920. Pieced wool,
dimensions unknown, lost. Photograph, The Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero
archive. Further reproduction in any medium is prohibited.
© Fortunato Depero/Copyright Agency 2019 45
2.11 Fortunato Depero, The Magician’s House, 1920. Oil on canvas,
150 × 260 cm (59.1 × 102.4 inches), private collection. © 2018.
De Agostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence. © Fortunato Depero/
Copyright Agency 2019 47
2.12 Oskar Schlemmer, Figure for the Triadic Ballet, The Abstract, 1922.
Wood and fabric, 202 × 126 × 65 cm (79.5 × 49.6 × 25.6 inches),
Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart. bpk/Staatsgalerie Stuttgart 52
2.13 Preparations for the Veglia Futurista by Fortunato Depero in
1923. Photograph, The Museum of Modern and Contemporary
Art of Trento and Rovereto, Fortunato Depero archive. Further
reproduction in any medium is prohibited. © Fortunato Depero/
Copyright Agency 2019 54