Fortunato Depero - Italian painter

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Fortunato Depero was an Italian painter, writer and graphic designer who was known for his impact on advertising and being a main member and contributor of the controversial futurism movement. He worked with many mediums such as costume designs and toys, however had a unique passion for advertising and promotion, which he considered to be “the new form of art”.

His interest in futurism was sparked after reading the paper “Lacerba” which was a publication containing futurist manifestos contributed by art theorists.

Futurism was an early 20^th century Italian avant-garde artistic movement, which was based around rejecting the past and glorifying modernity. Taking inspiration from the cubism movement, Futurists aimed to liberate society from historic and traditional influences, taking a dislike to traditional cultural establishments like museums, galleries and libraries and yearning to rebuild the world from scratch. Advertising was an important way for members to communicate their ideas to a wider audience, which was Depero’s area of expertise. His contributions to the movement highlighted it’s best inclinations (combining contrasting art forms) and most controversial perspectives (glorifying Fascism).

An obvious theme through Depero’s work is his use of geometric shapes. A key motif of futurism art is bright colours and abstract shapes; however, his work usually took more of a 2 – Dimensional approach to these principles. This artistic decision was most likely taken from an advertising perspective, as using simple shapes and a limited colour pallete would make prints easier to reproduce through processes like lithography.

While I don’t agree with nor fully understand the aims of the futurist movement, I can appreciate Deperos clean composition and the ways in which he communicates his ideas through geometric shapes. In regards to this current project, I am influenced by his use of flat coloured shapes and typography. Combining such aspects into my mural could help to clearly communicate the location to an audience.

I also notice that he uses a lot of gradients within his work, which I find interesting as it adds dimension and tone to his geometric paintings. I’m thinking of adding some gradients to my own piece, however I don’t know how this will translate on a larger scale.

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