Filippo Tommaso Marinetti correspondence and papers, 1886-1974 (bulk 1900-1944), bulk 1900-1944

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Maeterlinck, Maurice, 1862-1949, Marchi, Virgilio, 1895-1960, Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979, Larionov, Mikhail Fedorovich, 1881-1964, Tato, Goretti, Maria Sara, Edizioni futuriste di Poesia, Dottori, Gerardo, 1884-1977, Eckhoud, Georges, Di Bosso, Renato, 1905-1982, Diaghilev, Serge, 1872-1929, Darío, Rubén, 1867-1916, Depero, Fortunato, 1892-1960, D'Albisola, Tullio, 1899-1971, Saint-Pol-Roux, 1861-1940, Romains, Jules, 1885-1972, Prezzolini, Luigi, Pelacani, A.M., Orazi, Vittorio, Mockel, Albert, 1866-1945, Merrill, Stuart, 1863-1915, Mauclair, Camille, 1872-1945, Masefield, John, 1878-1967, Marinetti, F. T., 1876-1944, Marinetti Cappa, Benedetta, 1897-1977, Cappa, Alberto, Scrivo, Luigi, Scurto, Ignazio, 1912-1954, Soffici, Ardengo, 1879-1964, Buzzi, Paolo, -1956, Verga, Giovanni, 1840-1922, Winston, Harry Lewis, Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939, Masnata, Pino, Negri, Ada, 1870-1945, Cangiullo, Francesco, 1888-1977, Carrieri, Raffaele, 1905-1984, Bois, Jules, 1871-1943, Bertozzi, Renzo., Carrà, Carlo, 1881-1966, Farfa, 1879-1964, Bragaglia, Anton Giulio, 1890-1960, Russolo, Luigi, Acquaviva, Giovanni, Prampolini, Enrico, 1894-1956, and Govoni, Corrado, 1884-1965
Abstract:
Writer and founder and leader of the Italian Futurist movement. Correspondence, writings, photographs, and printed matter from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's papers, documenting the history of the futurist movement from its beginning in the journal Poesia, through World War I, and less comprehensively, through World War II and its aftermath.
Extent:
8.5 Linear Feet (16 boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti correspondence and papers, 1886-1974 (bulk 1900-1944), Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 850702.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850702

Background

Scope and content:

Marinetti correspondence and papers was assembled from various small collections acquired between 1984 and 1989, originally drawn from the Marinetti family archive and the papers of Luigi Scrivo, Marinetti's personal secretary from around 1930.

The largest portion of the collection consists of correspondence and submissions directed to Marinetti (Series I and II), first as editor of Poesia and later as the leader of the futurist movement and the publisher of the book press Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia". These letters, together with those from Marinetti (Series III) to an often unnamed correspondent ("Mon ami"), demonstrate how Marinetti stimulated debate about his movement in part by sending queries to a broad range of international literary figures regarding free verse or the futurist manifestos. He also critiques the writing submitted to him according to futurist criteria, warmly praising pieces that meet his idiosyncratic standards. His correspondents, in turn, praise or critique Marinetti's writing; of particular interest are conflicted responses to the first futurist manifesto in 1909. Letters from fellow futurists, such as Carlo CarrĂ , Umberto Boccioni, Francesco Cangiullo, and Fortunato Depero reveal wranglings internal to the movement, as well as the zeal with which they pursued their shared aims. After the First World War, letters are concerned with politics, and during the fascist years, many regard requests for government funding for individual futurist artists. Finally, following Marinetti's death, letters directed to Benedetta or Scrivo pertain to preservation of the futurist legacy, despite the stain of fascism, through retrospective exhibitions, anthologies, and conferences.

Writings by Marinetti (Series IV) include a few manuscripts from futurism's first phase, such as a handwritten theatrical synthesis "Donna + Amici = Frente" and three handwritten parole, but most of the writings date from after 1930. These include many prefaces to the books of fellow futurists, lectures and essays on aeropainting, and clippings from Autori e Scrittori. Circulars from Agenzia Letteraria Artistica (Series VII) contain manifestos and declarations in a newsletter format. Biographies (Series V), either drawn from newspaper articles, reference books, or manuscripts, present official and personal accounts of Marinetti's life; photographs (Series VI) offer a complementary visual summary. Letters to Alberto Cappa (Series VIII), Benedetta's brother, consist largely of letters from Benedetta about her mother or brother's health, with some details about her travels with Marinetti.

Biographical / historical:

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, born in Alexandria in 1876, attended secondary school and university in France, where he began his literary career. After gaining some success as a poet, he founded and edited the journal Poesia (1905), a forum in which the theories of futurism rather quickly evolved. With "Fondazione e Manifesto del Futurismo," published in Le Figaro (1909), Marinetti launched what was arguably the first 20th century avant-garde movement, anticipating many of the issues of Dada and Surrealism. Like other avant-garde movements, futurism took the momentous developments in science and industry as signaling a new historical era, demanding correspondingly innovative art forms and language. Like other avant-garde movements, futurism found a solution in collage, which Marinetti called "parole in libertĂ " when applied to literary forms. Between 1909 and 1920, the period known as futurism's heroic phase, Marinetti energetically promoted his own work, and that of fellow futurists, through numerous manifestos, speeches, essays, meetings, performances and publications. Following WWI, in which he served, Marinetti became an active member of the fascist party; on April 15, 1919, he and Ferruccio Vecchi led the "battle" of piazza Mercanti against socialists, communists, and anarchists, which was Italian fascism's first decisive victory. In 1929 he was elected to the Academy of Italy. Throughout the 1920s and 30s and until his death in 1944, Marinetti sought to reconcile the theories of futurism with the ideology of state fascism and to serve as impresario for both.

Acquisition information:
Collection assembled from various small collections acquired from 1984 to 1989.
Processing information:

Brent Sverdlov processed the papers and described them in a lengthy catalog record ca. 1990. Annette Leddy rearranged them somewhat and created a finding aid in 2004.

Arrangement:

The papers are arranged in eight series: Series I. Letters and submissions to Marinetti and others, 1900-1974; Series II. Unsigned or undated letters and submissions, ca. 1910 - ca. 1970; Series III. Letters from Marinetti, ca. 1905-1944; Series IV. Writings by Marinetti, 1896-1949; Series V. Biographies, 1927-1968; Series VI. Photographs, 1886-1972; Series VII. Agenzia Letteraria Artistica (A.L.A.): Circulars, 1934-1939; Series VIII. Letters to Alberto Cappa, 1923-1931.

Physical location:
Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Rules or conventions:
archives, personal papers, and manuscripts

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.

Preferred citation:

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti correspondence and papers, 1886-1974 (bulk 1900-1944), Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 850702.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850702

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390