Artist biography
Italian Futurist painter, sculptor and etcher. Born in Reggio Calabria. Went to Rome in 1898 to paint; met Severini and also Balla, then a divisionist, who gave him his first instruction in painting. Spent 1902-8 travelling in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, with visits to Paris and St Petersburg. By 1907 already expressed a wish to paint modern industrial society. Settled in Milan in 1908 and had his first one-man exhibition at the Ca' Pesaro, Venice, 1910. Joined the Futurist movement and was one of the signatories of the two manifestos of Futurist Painting 1910. Visited Paris with Carrà and Russolo 1911, afterwards adopting some Cubist techniques in his paintings. Also began to make sculpture and in 1912 issued a Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture. Wrote a book on the movement Pittura Scultura Futuriste: Dinamismo Plastico 1914. By 1914 his paintings had become distinctly Cubist and relatively static. Wounded while fighting in the Italian Army 1915; almost recovered, was killed by a fall from a horse at Sorte, near Verona.
Published in:
Ronald Alley, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, p.59
