California Italian Studies

In portraits of Italian futurist founder and poet Filippo-Tommaso Marinetti, the staging of the revelation of modern character meant factoring in many different, sometimes competing qualities, including his individual traits as well as broader visual principles that fit with avant-garde practices. In particular, an emphasis on his vocal ability would become a prominent feature of many of the most successful depictions.Portraits of Marinetti offer a valuable glimpse of some of the underlying tensions or outright contradictions related to this futurist aim, such as how this dominant, domineering, figure came to signify the movement at large and to overshadow the artistic achievements of others, as well as how early futurism’s popular success in Italy played a role in hastening an authoritarian return to political and ideological traditions.