148 (12) pp. volume with 9 black-and-white woodcut illustrations scattered throughout. Octavo (7 5/8 x 5 1/4 inches). Original illustrated wrappers. Some chipping and edgewear to wrappers, handling wear, a few small splits at spine, consistent toning throughout, more pronounced to margins, overall very good. Firenze: Tipografia A. Vallecchi, 1913.

This volume represents a one-off publication which was issued by Edizioni di Lacerba to coincide with the exhibition of Futurist art sponsored by Lacerba at the Ferrante Gonnelli gallery in Florence. According to the 1961 Futurism catalogue from the Museum of Modern Art, Lacerba, the eponymous organ of the art group, "eventually became the principal outlet for Futurist manifestoes, combative articles, and the texts written for delivery at Futurist manifestations but rarely heard in their entirety....For over a year, while the painters were diverging more and more, the pages of Lacerba served to keep the ideological ends of Futurism in focus." (Futurism, Joshua C. Taylor, The Museum of Modern Art, 1961).

This exhibition, held from November 30, 1913 to January 15, 1914, was the first showing of major Futurist artists in Florence. According to a chronology on Gonnelli's website, "In un quartiere terreno sfitto della via Cavour proprio accanto alla libreria Gonnelli...venne sistemata l’esposizione...Le casse giunsero da Londra, Parigi, Berlino, Milano, Mosca perché in quelle città i quadri avevano partecipato con molto successo ad altre esposizioni. La mostra, corredata da un catalogo edito da Vallecchi, viene inaugurata il 30 novembre 1913 e si conclude il 15 gennaio 1914. L’allestimento futurista include un gran numero di opere di Balla, Boccioni, Carrà, Russolo, Severini e Soffici: qui Marinetti, Boccioni, Carrà e Soffici fornivano agli avventori le interpretazioni delle opere esposte; in quella stessa occasione Primo Conti, allora giovanissimo, fa il suo primo incontro con gli esponenti futuristi."

This volume represents that catalogue mentioned by Gonnelli. It contains texts attributed to various authors but was actually written by Luciano Folgore, Italo Tavolato, Ardegno Soffici, Giovanni Papini, and Aldo Palazzeschi, the group who ran the Lacerba magazine. Soffici also was responsible for the creation of the woodcuts. The cover appeared in various color variations. The volume was published in the form of an almanac, a popular genre, with the goal of reaching the general public. In her catalog of Futurist works, Claudia Salaris calls this almanac "light-hearted, amusing and irreverent." (Salaris, p. 43; Collezione Mughini, no.11.)

Scarce institutionally.

Book ID: 53714

Price: $950.00