Depero: Fantastical Ride

Catalogue of the exhibition dedicated to Fortunato Depero, protagonist of Futurism, at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence between September 2023 and January 2024, the first in a Florentine public museum. Text in English and Italian.

This volume is the catalog of the exhibition Depero. Fantastical Ride, held in the historic rooms of the Museum of Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

Curated by Sergio Risaliti with Eva Francioli, the catalog presents the work of Fortunato Depero, a multifaceted artist who was able to combine the popular element with a fervid figurative imagination. Starting with Neighing at Speed, a typically Futurist painting by Depero, the catalog focuses on some of the most fascinating themes of Depero's production – from the myth of progress and speed, to the small theaters populated by ultra-modern puppets, to the rich production of tapestries, clothing – narrated through works from private collections and from the MART in Trento and Rovereto. It also includes a number of works that Depero made during a stay in New York in 1930.

Text in English and German.

Sergio Risaliti has been artistic director of the Museo Novecento in Florence since 2018. He is an art historian and critic, creator and curator of exhibitions and interdisciplinary events, writer and journalist. To his credit he has the conception and curatorship of a hundred exhibitions in public and private spaces. Eva Francioli holds a PhD in Art History at the Università degli Studi di Firenze. Her areas of research range from the study of art magazines in the interwar period to the vicissitudes of the avant-garde and neo-avant-garde movements in Florence and Tuscany. Since 2014 she has been part of the scientific and organizational secretariat of the Museo Novecento in Florence.