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Home , Aeropittura, Angiolo Mazzoni, Enrico Prampolini, Gerardo Dottori, Mario Sironi, Mural

Memorializing Technology: A Rare Convergence of Futuro-Fascist Objectives in Benedetta’s Synthesis of Communications

Ashley N. Lindeman

Benedetta Cappa Marinetti (1897-1977), member of Italian the phenomenological aspects of the idea of flight and the , imagined a utopian world, artistically synthesizing utilization of space for communication. This paper argues elements and fabricating perfect balance between seem- that Benedetta’s Synthesis of Communications (Sintesi delle ingly conflicting dualities.1 In the years of 1933 and 1934, comunicazioni) conveyed an unusual and rare in- she accepted a from state architect and tersection between two disparate entities––Futurism and engineer Angiolo Mazzoni (1894-1979) to decorate the ––in which technology and industrialization dem- conference room on the second floor of ’s main post onstrated both the ideals of the and office (Figure 1). The National Fascist Party commissioned the the aesthetic expectations of Benedetta and other Futurists. establishment of new state buildings such as post offices and To elaborate on this contention, this paper scrutinizes the train stations all over , connecting the nation by means of ways that the state expanded the use of new technologies a robust syndicate at a time of tension in Europe.2 This mural in order to overcome nature and to manipulate the funda- commission was one of three appointed in 1933, the other mental limitations concerning time and space. By looking two offered to Futurist and Fillia, and at the socio-political context in which the technologies of to . Unlike other Futurists, Benedetta felt airplanes, telephones, telegraphs, radios, highways, and that nature and technology could cooperate and should not ocean liners prevailed, this paper assesses what these ma- be viewed as adversaries, which is precisely why this mural chines meant to both Futurists and Fascists in Italy during the commission was successful. She drew parallels with Italy’s mid-twentieth century. current political situation and ultimately suggested that the Since the resurgence of scholarship on Benedetta’s strain between the dominant movements of Futurism and work in the 1990s, scholars have given most attention to Fascism was instead productive. Benedetta’s position as a woman in a male-dominated art The thesis of this paper does not concern the commission movement, and many other scholars neglect to consider itself, but instead, the murals’ images and their relationships her as a key participant. In past studies, discussion on the to the entities of technology and communications during marital relationship between F.T. Marinetti (1876-1944) and second-wave Futurism.3 Benedetta’s treatment of the natural Benedetta has been evaluated to an extent that is not neces- and mechanical landscape through the collapsing of space sary for the investigation of the murals.4 Although sources and representation of flight helped her to better understand on Benedetta’s are sparse, Futurism scholars such I offer my genuine thanks to Professor Adam Jolles for supporting me office, see Pasquale Piraino, “The Post Office building in Palermo,” through this project. I also extend thanks to other professors, col- Thule, Italy (April 2014), accessed 7 August 2015, http://thule–italia. leagues, and the FSU Association, who provided questions com/wordpress/il–palazzo–delle–poste–di–palermo/?lang=en. For and feedback during the Florida State University 34th Art History more information on these buildings and commissions, see Flavio Graduate Symposium. Mangione and Cristiano Rosponi, eds., Angiolo Mazzoni e l’architettura futurista (: Centro Studi Architettura Razionalista, 2008). 1 Benedetta went by her first name as a rejection of patriarchal ideals. By signing only her first name, she disconnected herself from her father’s 3 Second-wave Futurism has been unofficially and retrospectively dated name and her husband’s name, signifying her autonomy to create and to beginning right after and ending at F.T. Marinetti’s death exist without them. She also reinforced spiritual aspects of her work, as in 1944. her name means “to consecrate” or “to bless.” For more on this topic see Siobhan Conaty, “Italian Futurism, Gender, Culture, and Power” 4 F.T. Marinetti (1876-1944) was the legendary leader and founder of (PhD diss., Case Western Reserve University, 2002), 159-160. Italian Futurism, publishing the movement’s first manifesto, “Il fon- dazione e manifesto del futurismo” in 1909. Futurism is sometimes 2 This post office commission was one of many that was part of a large- referred to as Marinettismo, underscoring his authority and influence scale plan to revitalize Italy between 1928-1934. Costanzo Ciano, the on the movement’s trajectory over its four-decade life. He attempted to first minister for communications under the rule of Mussolini, gave marry the Futurist and Fascist movements in the 1920s, but Mussolini direction to Angiolo Mazzoni on specific projects. Mazzoni complied rejected Futurism as the art of the state in 1923, choosing instead the with the rationalist aesthetic, embracing the same structural elements Novecento art group, claiming that they upheld more of the Fascist found in a Roman . The structure features a strong colonnade, ideals than the Futurists did. There are many sources on Marinetti, but assembled by ten Doric columns, each thirty meters in height, cast in one of the most comprehensive studies is Lawrence Rainey, Christine reinforced concrete, but covered in grigio Billiemi marble, forming a Poggi, and Laura Wittman, eds., Futurism: An Anthology (New Haven, grandiose entrance. For more details on the construction of the post CT: Yale University Press, 2009). athanor xxxv ashley n. lindeman

as Lawrence Rainey, Christine Poggi, and Günter Berghaus Benedetta demonstrated that Italy could now be a dominant demonstrate the extensive contradictions and complications European power once again with the aid of progressive ma- within the movement. Modernist scholars Linda Henderson, chines that equipped methods of travel and the transmission Mark Antliff, and Romy Golan contribute to the wider dis- of communication. course on the transitions and developments that artists were The Synthesis of Communications murals, timely due grappling with in the twentieth century. This paper affirms to their particular attention to rising technologies, inspired an interdisciplinary study of technology, , and art, exchange and commerce, which supported the goals of considering the overlapping ideologies that are especially both Futurism and Fascism. The years leading up to the evident in Benedetta’s work. beginning of Italian Futurism were abundant with economic Each in Synthesis of Communications engages development, especially in the industries of transportation with the next through the pulsation of varying shades and and communication.8 These developing sciences mani- hues of blues and pinks. The paintings evoke a multisensorial, fested themselves in literary and visual artworks of the time aerodynamic, and unexpectedly static view from the cockpit and dominate in works by Futurists such as of an airplane.5 Some of the vantage points in the murals (1871-1958), (1882-1916), and later, place the viewer as a pedestrian instead of in the sky, implying Benedetta. In an essay dating to 1913 entitled “Destruc- that it was not only the airplane that encouraged feelings of tion of Syntax-Wireless Imagination-Words-in-Freedom,” valor and accomplishment, but also ground-transport ve- Marinetti proposed: hicles. The absence of human life in all five murals suggests Anyone who today uses the telegraph, that inventions and creativity will bring life to humans, not the telephone, and the gramophone, the the other way around. Through the dynamic relationship train, the bicycle, the motorcycle, the au- between manmade constructions and flourishing nature, the tomobile, the ocean liner, the airship, the paintings unite machines, the people who built them, and airplane, the film theater, the great daily their domination over nature. newspaper (which synthesizes the daily The Synthesis of Communications murals, installed in events of the whole world), fails to rec- the post office conference room as large, detachable panels, ognize that these different forms of com- mimic the materials and processes that were used in Pompei- munication, of transport and information, ian frescoes. 6 The and encaustic surfaces directly have a far-reaching effect on their psyche.9 refer to the past grandeur of ancient Rome and complicate Technology was the foundation for the Futurist move- Benedetta’s affiliation as a Futurist. was one of the ment and its push for a stronger future, from the speeding many petitions for primordio, or a return to origins, a goal automobile in the first decade of the movement to the more of ’s for Italy’s future that found its way into invisible technologies such as waves of communication of Fascist art commissions.7 The murals’ placement in a post the telegraph and radio throughout the 1920s and 1930s. office, a hub for communication, technology, and travel, Benedetta’s Synthesis of Land Communications illus- serves as an example of the ideals held by the government. trates the result of technology overcoming nature via the By fashioning a modern Italy that echoed ancient Rome, Motorway of the Lakes (Autostrada dei laghi) (Figure 2).10 Although the 1923 marriage of Marinetti and Benedetta is an important 7 In the writings of Alberto Savinio in 1934, there was a call to return to aspect to her work and life, it is a subject that has been overanalyzed. the medium of tempera. This change was imperative to eliminating oil Her biography has been well-investigated, but her paintings are what painting from the tradition, ridding the movement of its antiquated, I am interested in for this paper. For more information on Benedetta nineteenth-century ideals. Furthermore, , one of the origi- and Marinetti’s relationship, see Siobhan Conaty, “Benedetta Cappa nal members of Novecento, wrote the “Manifesto of mural painting,” Marinetti and the Second Phase of Futurism,” Woman’s Art Journal in which he claimed this medium allowed for the clearest expression of 30, no. 1 (2009): 24; Franca Zoccoli, Benedetta Cappa Marinetti: the “Fascist spirit.” The Futurists also flirted with the idea of the mural Queen of Futurism (New York, NY: Midmarch Arts Press, 2003); and as an environment or “ambiente.” This phenomenon becomes clear Lisa Panzera, Cinzia Blum, Christine Poggi, and Lucia Re, “La Futurista: in the conference room in which the Synthesis of Communications Benedetta Cappa Marinetti,” Moore College of Art and Design (1998). reside. Golan, Muralnomad, 38-39.

5 Early Futurist painting is known for its dynamism and its portrayal 8 The industries of electricity, chemicals, and steel also accelerated of speed and movement. The Synthesis of Communications murals, during the early twentieth century. Gunter Berghaus, Futurism and however, embody the slower-paced, more calculated distinctions of the Technological Imagination (Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi second-wave Futurist painting. Publishers, 2009), 2.

6 It is not unimportant that the murals are detachable. Romy Golan 9 In Marinetti’s “Destruction of Syntax” text, he lists seventeen points addresses the issue of murals that were never meant to stay on . regarding “significant phenomena” that have been created by “our Like Benedetta’s murals, there were many others that were designed [modified] sensibility.” He makes general observations about the ac- to be assembled and disassembled and even exhibited. Golan argues celerated rhythm of life that creates multiple consciousnesses within that the debatable relationship of the murals and the is indicative single individuals. For more on this topic, see Marinetti in Berghaus, of the perplexity that is characteristic in mid-twentieth century Euro- Futurism and the Technological Imagination, 23. pean art. See Romy Golan, Muralnomad: The Paradox of Wall Painting, Europe 1927-1957 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009), 1. 10 The Motorway of the Lakes, the first highway built in Italy exclusively

60 memorializing technology: a rare convergence of futuro-fascist objectives in benedetta’s synthesis of communications

The smooth texture of each detail recounts Benedetta’s plied to an establishment such as a post office, it becomes calculated brushstrokes, emphasizing the sharp contours of apparent that collapsing space could be a tool for sending the rigid medium. In a Cubo-futurism , she flattened mail, talking on the telephone, and mass communication space, reminding her viewers that this subject is nothing over radio waves. more than a two-dimensional vision. In the “Manifesto dell’ Benedetta’s murals, receptive to the recently discovered ,” the Futurists declared: “painting the new reality “invisible” dimensions, especially utilize concepts of time and from on high requires a profound disdain for detail and the space, underscoring the relevance of immaterial networks obligation of synthesizing and transforming everything.”11 and connections for communication. For instance, in Syn- On the right, she illustrated a growing mass of land ele- thesis of Telegraphic and Telephonic Communications, she ments such as grass, rock, and water and intertwined them invited her viewers to experience a space that involved the with components of industrialization such as roads, bridges, possibility of not only unseen, but of multiple dimensions and tunnels. A set of train tracks in the bottom right corner (Figure 3). The wavy lines that across the canvas could catches the viewer’s attention in the reflective surface of represent the vibrations within telephone lines or a telegraph what could be skyscrapers. From the tunnel in the center, being sent through the air across hundreds of miles. The a zigzag of rocks and mountains ascend, and an unyielding bottom left corner alludes to the concept of space-time by column of an aqueduct slices the composition in half. The incorporating the numbers of a rotary telephone.15 The dif- open motorway unfolds itself into the distance, and into the ferent types of lines unite to create layers of space, exposing future. This mural is a paradigmatic example of the glorifica- a depth unnoticed to the naked eye and defying the human tion of new technologies, but also an instance of the ways in understanding of space and time. Benedetta attempted to which technology and nature could cooperate. Therefore, comprehend and share her knowledge of these new tech- the mural symbolizes a particular instance when Futurist and nologies through her paintings. Fascist standards overlapped. Participants and followers of Futurism believed that Since their beginning, Futurists commonly represented technology would bring the Italian people a fresh transportation machines such as cars, railways, and aero- that would eliminate the obstacles of the past. Generally nautics, even though Italian transportation lagged far behind speaking, the Fascists praised Italy’s past, while the Futurists Germany, , and the United States throughout the advocated predominantly for the embrace of the machine twentieth century.12 There were also ideas circulating that age. Benedetta’s murals were not the only ones to cross space itself might possess a higher, invisible dimension. Linda both lines. Enrico Prampolini and Fillia, two second-wave Dalrymple Henderson, scholar of the fourth-dimension in Futurists, accepted the second mural commission for the visual culture, demonstrated that such a new conception of newly built post office in La Spezia. Prampolini and Fillia’s reality demanded new languages to express it, painting and 1933 Telegraphic and Telephonic Communications and Aerial science-fiction literature being the most prevalent forms.13 Communications is another example of the idolization of the And this phenomenon was not new; the Futurists had already machine, but also a reminder that Futurists had eclipsed sim- been grappling with the collapsing of space in 1910 when the ply painting and began utilizing media that evoked the past, “Manifesto tecnico della pittura futurista” was published. The specifically those of Pompeii (Figure 4). Prampolini and Fillia’s Futurists suggested that: “space no longer exists: the street use of ceramic mosaic, comprised of tiny tesserae, clearly pavement, soaked by rain beneath the glare of electric lamps, demonstrates the duality of past and future through medium becomes immensely deep and gapes to the very center of and subject matter that was ever-present in the commission the earth. Thousands of miles divide us from the sun; yet of such works. Fortunato Depero, who received the third the house in front of us fits into the solar disk.”14 When ap- commission, created a set of stained glass windows for the

for motor vehicles, was envisioned and constructed under Piero Puri- are traces of invisible reality that goes beyond human perception. The celli in 1925. The motorway was built just north of . For more, ether was sometimes referred to as a bridge into the invisible universe, see Andrea Greco and Giorgio Ragazzi, “History and Regulation of into the fourth dimension. For more information on the ether and Italian Highways Concessionaires,” in Procurement and Financing of the fourth dimension, see: Linda Dalrymple Henderson, The Fourth Motorways in Europe (Stamford, CT: JAI Press, 2005), 121. Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1983), xix; Linda Dalrymple Henderson, “Vibratory 11 Giacomo Balla, Benedetta, Fortunato Depero, , Fillia, : Boccioni, Kupka, and the Ether of Space,” From Energy F.T. Marinetti, Enrico Prampolini, Mino Somenzi, and Tato, “Manifesto to Information (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002), 131. dell’aeropittura.” Vecchio e Nuovo (Rome: Volpe, 1929), trans. Ashley Lindeman, accessed 5 September 2015, http://www.culturaservizi.it/ 14 Umberto Boccioni, , , Giacomo Balla, and vrd/files/VN1931_manifesto_aeropittura.pdf. , “Manifesto tecnico della pittura futurista” (11 April 1910) in Futurism: An Anthology, 64-67. 12 Berghaus, Introduction to Futurism and the Technological Imagination, 8. 15 The public use of telephones in post offices largely developed in 1930s Europe. See Robert Millward, Private and Public Enterprise in 13 Linda Dalrymple Henderson’s scholarship focuses on science, geom- Europe: Energy, Telecommunications and Transport (Cambridge, MA: etry, and technology in modern art and she argues that modernists Cambridge University Press, 2005), 102. were influenced by the idea that the fourth dimension and the ether

61 athanor xxxv ashley n. lindeman

new post office in . Today, they are partially missing machine expanded beyond technological advancement, es- and thought to have been damaged during World War II.16 pecially when transportation machines became intertwined One important aspect of the Synthesis of Communica- with spiritual and cosmic undertones.23 In the “Manifesto tions murals is the viewpoint. The compositions conjure a dell’aeropittura,” the Futurists declared: “The elements of sense of timelessness by pulling the viewer into the cosmos, this new reality have no established position and are made away from the buzz and conflict of the world. Influenced from the same endless mobility” and “soon a new plastic, by the perpetually changing perspectives offered by flight, extra-terrestrial spirituality will arrive.”24 As evidenced in some viewpoints in the murals offer something different Synthesis of Communications, aeropainting fused machine from an earthbound perspective. The murals reflect the iconography with visions of the celestial heavens, implying Futurist style known as aeropittura, or aeropainting, which is that the machine could support both psychological strength traditionally defined as a pictorial approach inspired by flight as well as physical. during the mid-twentieth century.17 Benedetta explained the By 1934, Italian Futurist depictions and exhibitions phenomenon of aeropainting, stating: “The Futurist painter admitted aeropainting into their core artistic tools for repre- is confronting a problem: how to express these numerous sentation, especially during the period following the invasion new worlds, how to render them nakedly and powerfully, of Ethiopia and when the regime entered World War II in in such a way that every viewer experiences unmediated June 1940. Airplanes gave soldiers feelings of invincibility and contact with the universe of the .”18 The aerial view- courage translated in works such as Gerardo Dottori’s 1942 points that Benedetta adopted in these murals do not exude Aerial Battle over the Gulf of Naples (Figure 5). No longer an ideological or political tone, but instead, the elevated is the emphasis on speed or gravity. Suddenly, the viewer perspectives indicate her desire to remove herself from the floats in a limbo of fire and smoke, where time has stopped disastrous interwar period and approach the tensions of the and an air battle rages on. Mussolini relished this type of 1930s from a new angle. valiant iconography because of the impression of power and Benedetta began flying in the mid-1920s.19 These experi- strength in the machine, inventions upon which he built his ences resulted in her signing the “Manifesto dell’aeropittura,” regime. Aerial battle in Dottori’s painting is symbolic of the launched in 1929.20 She claimed that many of her paintings glory of Italy. Another goal of aeropainting was to convey were plastic results of her flights over Rome, Milan, the Medi- a sense of the sublime in the view from above, attempting terranean, and Palermo, and she included specific landmarks to both unnerve and thrill the observer. The perspectives of these places within her murals. Yet, it is important to rec- designed by the aeropainters hint at a higher dimension, ognize that the Synthesis of Communications murals are not which was often invisible, and sometimes neither aerial nor territories that could have been seen from the low altitude earthbound, but cosmic. reached by a small plane. In fact, some of them are cosmic Although paradoxical, the Synthesis of Communica- landscape fantasies based on Benedetta’s interpretation of tions murals are of considerable importance to Futurism, a sensations and emotions that she experienced during her four-decade movement fraught with both innovation and aerial expeditions.21 By combining the separate elements of conflict. Benedetta knew how important her contributions fantasy and vision, expansion and limitation, she illustrated would be to subsequent Futurist historians, insisting through the very struggle of her position, pulled between the enti- her musing: “When the history of futurism will be written, ties of Futurism and Fascism. Futurist scholar Christine Poggi it will be necessary to show what deep changes have taken points out that these otherworldly scenes suggest a hunger place in the poetic personality of its head, Marinetti, after for a utopia that Fascist Futurism advertises but that never the entrance of Benedetta in his life and in his fantasy… becomes reality.22 In Futurism’s second wave, the idea of the and more, the historian of futurism will have to say what 16 Golan, “Slow Time: The Futurist Mural,” in Italian Futurism 1909-1944: 20 Balla, et al., “Manifesto dell’aeropittura.” For more information on Reconstructing the Universe, ed. Vivien Green (New York, NY: The Benedetta’s contribution, see Siobhan Conaty, Italian Futurism: Gen- Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Catalogue, 2014), 318-19. der, Culture, and Power (PhD diss., Case Western Reserve University, 2002), 130. 17 According to Futurist scholar Maurizio Scudiero, aeropainting has two tendencies. The first is the “cosmic” where the airplane was the 21 Zoccoli, Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, 55-56. vehicle through which to gain a new sense of vision and develop a different sensibility. The second is the “documentary” where the air- 22 Christine Poggi, Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial plane becomes the subject. Both tendencies are abundant in Futurist Optimism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press: 2009), 248. painting. For more in-depth definitions of aeropainting, see Maurizio Scudiero, “Futurist Aeropainting,” FMR: The Magazine of Franco Maria 23 During the 1920s and 1930s the ideals, styles, and goals for Futurism Ricci, no. 112 (2001): 72. underwent significant changes including subject matter and media utilized in art. There was also a surprising taste for sentimentalism 18 In 1927, during her most active years as an artist, Benedetta wrote and spirituality in second-wave Futurist art, especially in the works of about the pictorial problem for the painter and how that affected her Balla, Fillia, Prampolini, and Benedetta. art practice. Benedetta, “Sensibilità futuriste,” in Rainey, Futurism: An Anthology, 280. 24 Balla, et al., “Manifesto dell’aeropittura.”

19 Zoccoli, Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, 55-56.

62 memorializing technology: a rare convergence of futuro-fascist objectives in benedetta’s synthesis of communications

Benedetta has brought to futurism.”25 Through the murals, them to see the world from refreshing vantage points. The she prompted second-wave Futurists to open themselves to Palermo Post Office commission sheds new insight on both a multi-dimensional universe and work beyond material and the trajectory of Futurism and also the goals of the state. The earthly limitations. Synthesis of Communications murals demonstrate technol- The technological advances of the 1920s and 1930s ogy’s power over nature, but they also show the delicate gave Benedetta a unique opportunity to develop a new type relationships that Benedetta helped untangle: Futurism and of Futurist art, one that supported the ideals of the state. As Fascism, nature and technology, and past and future. Italy moved into unknown territories—politically, scientifi- cally, economically, and even geographically—the Futurists searched for energetic, creative outlets that would allow Florida State University

25 Benedetta claimed her role in Futurism in her diaries, poems, and provide an indication of where the speeches were given, if at all. speeches. She demonstrated that she was an active agent and in- Benedetta, “The Contribution of the Modern Woman to Literature tellectual equal to the other contributors in the movement. These and to Art,” box 6, folder 3, Inventory of the Papers of F.T. Marinetti speeches and other drafts are housed at the and Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, 1902–1965, Special Collections and in , and many of these papers are not dated and do not Archives, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 4.

Figure 1. Benedetta, Synthesis of Communications (Sintesi delle comunicazioni), 1933–1934, tempera on canvas, 120 x 78 inches, each. Sala del Con- siglio, Palermo Post Office, Italy.

63 athanor xxxv ashley n. lindeman

Figure 2. Benedetta, Synthesis of Land Communications (Sintesi delle comu- nicazioni terrestri), 1933–1934, tempera on canvas, 120 x 78 inches. Sala del Consiglio, Palermo Post Office, Italy.

Figure 3. Benedetta, Synthesis of Telegraphic and Telephonic Communications (Sintesi delle comunicazioni telegrafiche e telefoniche), 1933–1934, tempera on canvas, 120 x 78 inches. Sala del Consiglio, Palermo Post Office, Italy.

64 memorializing technology: a rare convergence of futuro-fascist objectives in benedetta’s synthesis of communications

Figure 4. Luigi Fillia and Enrico Prampo- lini, Telegraphic and Telephonic Commu- nications (Le comunicazioni telegrafiche e telefoniche) and Aerial Communications (Le comunicazioni aeree), 1933, ceramic mosaic, [size unknown/varies]. Post Of- fice, La Spezia, Italy. Photo credit: Romy Golan.

Figure 5. Gerardo Dottori, Aerial Battle over the Gulf of Naples (Battaglia aerea sul Golfo di Napoli) or Infernal Battle over the Paradise of the Gulf (Inferna di battaglia sul paradiso del golfo), 1942, oil on canvas, 73 x 51 ½ inches. . Photo credit: Luca Carrà Photography. 65