Fortunato Depero

Who was Fortunato Depero?

Fortunato Depero was an Italian futurist painter, writer, sculptor and graphic designer.

Although born in Fondo/Malosco, Depero grew up in Rovereto and it was here he first began exhibiting his works, while serving as an apprentice to a marble worker. It was on a 1913 trip to Florence that he discovered a copy of the paper Lacerba and an article by one of the founders of the futurism movement, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. Depero was inspired, and in 1914 moved to Rome and met fellow futurist Giacomo Balla. It was with Balla in 1915 that he wrote the manifesto Ricostruzione futurista dell’universo which expanded upon the ideas introduced by the other futurists. In the same year he was designing stage sets and costumes for a ballet.

In 1919 Depero founded the "Casa d'Arte Futurista" in Rovereto, which specialised in producing toys, tapestries and furniture in the futurist style. In 1925 he represented the futurists at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.