This focus on textiles and unconventional materials - derived during this period from his parallel activity in the field of decoration - found confirmation in other works of the time.

Active from an early age as a draughtsman and critic in countless national art magazines, Prampolini signed up to Futurism in 1913, after having visited (and reviewed) the I Esposizione di Pittura Futurista held in the foyer of the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. This early conversion, which represents the thrust behind an intense artistic and organisational path - often developed in dialogue with Europe’s leading avantgarde movements - would see him feature among the main protagonists of Marinetti’s movement, particularly from the early 1920s onwards. The painting, which depicts a broken-down bottle with fruit and bowls, is one of the rare examples of a still life painted by Prampolini during his first Futurist phase. This stage - dating to between 1914 and 1920 - can be inscribed within a period of strong expressive growth for the artist, although only a small number of paintings testifying to it are still extant today. Conceived in keeping with a language that refers to the geometric dynamism developed by Umberto Boccioni, Natura morta (Still Life) was painted while Prampolini was also experimenting with a more synthetic and abstract form of painting, determined by his closeness to the Futurist environment in Rome (particularly the painters Giacomo Balla and Fortunato Depero). 

Produced in 1917, the work was exhibited in May of the following year at the Mostra d’arte indipendente pro Croce Rossa in Rome, organised by Prampolini himself at the Galleria L’Epoca, bringing together groups of very different artists, working in both the field of Futurism and Metaphysical research. In addition to the catalogue (that merely indicates the title), the presence of Still Life is confirmed by a reproduction that appeared in the Roman daily Il Fronte interno, published alongside a review by Guido Calderini that was particularly positive about the artist.¹ The work very probably featured again in La pittura d’avanguardia italiana exhibition, which opened a few months later in Viareggio. This event, which was also coordinated by Prampolini, was configured as a replica of the earlier Roman show, but with more artworks.² 

Prampolini stated his admiration for and interest in the art of Boccioni (who died early, in 1916) on a number of occasions and his influence can be seen in certain aspects - both contentrelated and formal - of the work in question. As well as being associated with Boccioni’s research into geometric dynamism, Natura morta is a painterly representation of the motif and synthetic effects of Sviluppo di una bottiglia nello spazio (Development of a Bottle in Space), a sculpture created by Boccioni in 1912. A lucid representation, which is grounded in Prampolini’s critical activity and interests of the time: his visit to the exhibition of Boccioni’s sculptures, held at the Galleria Futurista in Rome in 1913, was experienced by the artist as a real revelation and led to a long illustrated review, introduced by a black-andwhite reproduction of the abovementioned Development of a Bottle in Space (fig. 1).³ It is also no coincidence that, in 1922 (out of line with his work of the time), Prampolini chose Still Life to feature in the I Esposizione Futurista in Macerata, organised in this provincial capital in the Marche by the painter Ivo Pannaggi. It was an event that, as well as establishing the central role played by Prampolini among the official ranks of the movement, also supported a transgenerational line of Futurism, particularly celebrating the figure of Boccioni through the inclusion in the exhibition of his Donna al caffè of 1912-14. This dialogue between the two works exhibited in the same room,⁴ which was probably sought after by Prampolini, was useful for repositioning his painterly experience in the wake of the seminal research carried out by the main Futurists. 

Whatever its stylistic aspects, the work primarily draws attention to more markedly material matters. When producing Natura morta, Prampolini in fact chose to paint on a woollen canvas with a fairly coarse weave (probably a blanket or perhaps standard upholstery fabric, fig. 2), treated in advance with a gluey primer, designed to give added solidity to the support. This focus on textiles and unconventional materials - derived during this period from his parallel activity in the field of decoration - found confirmation in other works of the time.⁵ Moreover, his research into different materials represented a recurrent field of investigation throughout his career as an artist: from his Futurist experience to his most extreme results of the 1950s in the field of Art Informel. 

Alessandro Botta 

¹ Calderini 1918. The painting discussed here is described as a “still life with strong and healthy colouring” (ibid.).

² In the lack of a catalogue, the words of Filippo de Pisis (author of the conference held during the exhibition and published subsequently) enable us to establish which artists were present and provide indications regarding the works on display. When speaking of the “group of works” presented by Prampolini, de Pisis does not forget to mention the “still lifes of various kinds” exhibited by the artist, thereby making it plausible that the painting was included in the Viareggio exhibition (De Pisis 1919, pp. 17-18).

³ Prampolini 1914, p. 33. Regarding the influence of Boccioni’s sculpture on Prampolini’s works, see Pfister 1940, p. 11.

⁴ The contemporary presence of the two paintings is recorded by a photograph of the room in Macerata 1995, p. 153.

⁵ Alongside the Still Life at the Mostra d’arte indipendente in Rome in 1918, Prampolini also presented a “Particularly […] noteworthy” textile piece, recorded as a “decorative picture in silk and velvet” (La mostra d’arte degli indipendenti 1918).