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Ardengo Soffici (7 April 1879 – 19 August 1964) was an Italian writer, painter, poet, sculptor and intellectual.


Early life

Soffici was born in
Rignano sull'Arno Rignano sull'Arno is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence. Main sights *''Pieve'' of San Lorenzo a Miransù *''Pieve'' di San Leonino, with a terra ...
, near Florence. In 1893 his family moved to the latter city, where he studied at the Accademia from 1897 and later at the Scuola Libera del Nudo of the academy.


Career

In 1900 he moved from Florence to Paris, where he lived for seven years and worked for
Symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and real ...
journals. While in Paris, during his time at the
Bateau-Lavoir The Bateau-Lavoir ("Washhouse Boat") is the nickname of a building in the Montmartre district of the 18th arrondissement of Paris that is famous in art history as the residence and meeting place for a group of outstanding early 20th-century artist ...
, he became acquainted with
Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he play ...
, Derain, Picasso,
Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...
and
Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of th ...
. On returning to Italy in 1907, Soffici settled in
Poggio a Caiano Poggio a Caiano is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Prato, Tuscany region Italy. The town, birthplace of Philip Mazzei, lies south of the provincial capital of Prato. Sister towns Poggio a Caiano has two sister cities: * Charlott ...
in the countryside near Florence (where he lived for the rest of his life) and wrote articles on modern artists for the first issue of the political and cultural magazine '' La Voce''. In 1910 he organised an exhibition of Impressionist painting in Florence in association with ''La Voce'', devoting an entire room to the sculptor
Medardo Rosso Medardo Rosso (; 21 June 1858 – 31 March 1928) was an Italian sculptor. He is considered, like his contemporary and admirer Auguste Rodin, to be an artist working in a post-Impressionist style. Biography and works Rosso was born in Turin, whe ...
. In August 1911 he wrote an article in ''La Voce'' on Picasso and Braque, which probably influenced the
Futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...
in the direction of
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
. At this time Soffici considered Cubism to be an extension of the partial revolution of the Impressionists. In 1912-1913 Soffici painted in a Cubist style.


Futurism

After visiting the Futurists' Exhibition of Free Art in Milan, he wrote a hostile review in ''La Voce''. The leading Futurists Marinetti,
Boccioni Umberto Boccioni (, ; 19 October 1882 – 17 August 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach ...
and Carrà, were so incensed by this that they immediately boarded a train for Florence and assaulted Soffici and his ''La Voce'' colleagues at the Caffè Giubbe Rosse. Reviewing the Futurists' Paris exhibition of 1912 in his article ''Ancora del Futurismo'' (Futurism Again) he dismissed their rhetoric, publicity-seeking and their art, but granted that, despite its faults, Futurism was "a movement of renewal, and that is excellent". Gino Severini was despatched from Milan to Florence to make peace with Soffici on behalf of the Futurists – the Peace of Florence, as Boccioni called it. After these diplomatic overtures, Soffici, together with
Giovanni Papini Giovanni Papini (9 January 18818 July 1956) was an Italian journalist, essayist, novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and philosopher. A controversial literary figure of the early and mid-twentieth century, he was the earliest and ...
, Aldo Palazzeschi and Italo Tavolato withdrew from ''La Voce'' in 1913 to form a new periodical, '' Lacerba'', which would concentrate entirely on art and culture. Soffici published "Theory of the movement of plastic Futurism" in ''Lacerba'', accepting that Futurism had reconciled what had previously seemed irreconcilable, Impressionism and Cubism. By its fifth issue ''Lacerba'' wholly supported the Futurists. Soffici's paintings in 1913 – e.g. ''Linee di una strada'' and ''Sintesi di una pesaggio autumnale'' – showed the influence of the Futurists in method and title and he exhibited with them. In 1914, personal quarrels and artistic differences between the Milan Futurists and the Florence group around Soffici, Papini and
Carlo Carrà Carlo Carrà (; February 11, 1881 – April 13, 1966) was an Italian painter and a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to his many paintings, he wrote a number ...
, created a rift in Italian Futurism. The Florence group resented the dominance of Marinetti and Boccioni, whom they accused of trying to establish "an immobile church with an infallible creed", and each group dismissed the other as ''passéiste''.


Inter-war years

After serving in the First World War, Soffici married Maria Sdrigotti, whom he met in a publishing house in Udine, while editing Kobilek. They moved to Poggio a Caiano and had three children, Valeria, Sergio and Laura. Soffici created a distance from Futurism and, discovering a new reverence for Tuscan tradition, became associated with the "
return to order The return to order ( French: ''retour à l'ordre'') was a European art movement that followed the First World War, rejecting the extreme avant-garde art of the years up to 1918 and taking its inspiration from classical art instead. The movement ...
" which manifested itself in the naturalistic landscapes which thereafter dominated his work. Remaining in Poggio a Caiano, he painted nature and traditional Tuscan scenes. There, he continued to write and paint and was visited by many artists, some of whom he helped in finding their place in the art world. In 1926, he discovered the young artist Quinto Martini when the latter visited Soffici's workshop with his work. In Martini's first experiments Soffici recognised the kind of genuine and intimate traits he was seeking and became his mentor. In 1925, he signed the ''Manifesto degli intellettuali fascisti'' in support of the regime, and in 1938 he gave support to Italy's racial laws.


Later life

When Mussolini was overthrown in Italy, he pledged loyalty to the
Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
with Mussolini as its head. He was a co-founder of ''Italia e Civilità'', a war magazine that supported patriotism, Germany and the principles of Fascism. At the end of the Second World War, Soffici was taken as a British POW and was imprisoned for several months in unhealthy conditions at an allied prison camp where he contracted pneumonia. During his stay at the prison camp, he met several other artists and writers who had also been accused of political support to fascism. Together, they wrote, painted and set up plays to pass the time in the squalid conditions they found themselves in. Some of the paintings were exchanged for food and art materials from the guards. Later, once released due to lack of evidence, he returned home and lived in Poggio a Caiano and spent his summers in Forte dei Marmi.


Death

Soffici continued to paint and write until his death in
Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi' ...
on 12 August 1964. His last photo was taken a few days before his demise, holding his youngest granddaughter Marina.Laura Poggi Soffici


Bibliography


Poems


References and sources

;References ;Sources
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soffici, Ardengo 1879 births 1964 deaths People from the Province of Florence Italian male writers Italian Futurist painters Italian military personnel of World War I Futurist writers Italian Futurism Italian fascists People of Montmartre Italian prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom World War II civilian prisoners