Take home this splendid work by Umberto Bonetti, an icon of the futurist movement!

Aeropittura on Bologna

About the artist

He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lucca where he had Lorenzo Viani as a teacher.

In 1930 in Viareggio he met Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. The following year he designed the Viareggio Burlamacco carnival mask.

Around 1932 he adhered to the principles of futurist aeropainting enunciated in 1929 by the futurists Marinetti, Balla, Depero, etc.

Encouraged by Depero and Thayaht, Bonetti also dedicated himself to fashion by creating models.

From 1932 to 1935 and subsequently in 1938 he collaborated with propaganda drawings inspired by the theme of flight in the weekly "L'artiglio", the official organ of the Lucca fascist party. Later, however, he would distance himself from the party and his and his family's relations with local exponents of the regime would become increasingly tense.

Among Bonetti's best-known productions are the Italian Aeroviste, a series of aeropaintings created between 1932 and 1940, in which various Italian cities are represented: Pisa, Pistoia, Rome, Bolzano, Sirmione, Cagliari, Nuoro and others. Some of them were born as sketches for the project, never realized, to display panels with aerial views of the main cities and tourist locations in Italian representative offices abroad. In many cases, the views were born from the direct flying experience gained by Bonetti on the airfields of Viareggio and Pisa. 

Consistent with futurist aesthetics, which also conceives texts as visual elements, in his aeropaintings the letters that make up the names of the cities portrayed are often integrated into the drawing, thus making the title and image coincide.

Details:

Mixed media on paper

cm37x25

Dated 1930