Enrico Prampolini (20 April 1894, Modena – 17 June 1956, Rome) was an Italian

Futurist 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 abo ...

painter, sculptor and scenographer. He assisted in the design of the

Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution The Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution (''Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista'') was a show held in Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni from 1932 to 1934. Opened by Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1932, it had 4 million visitors. Its director a ...

and was (like

Gerardo Dottori Gerardo Dottori (11 November 1884 – 13 June 1977) was an Italian Futurist painter. He signed the ''Futurist Manifesto of Aeropainting'' in 1929. He was associated with the city of Perugia most of his life, living in Milan for six months as ...

) active in Aeropainting. He pursued a programme of abstract and quasi-abstract painting, combined with a career in stage design. His ''Spatial-Landscape Construction'' (1919) is quasi-abstract with large flat areas in bold colours, predominantly red, orange, blue and dark green. His ''Simultaneous Landscape'' (1922) is totally abstract, with flat colours and no attempt to create perspective. In his ''Umbrian Landscape'' (1929), produced in the year of the Aeropainting Manifesto, Prampolini returns to figuration, representing the hills of Umbria. But by 1931 he had adopted "cosmic idealism", a biomorphic abstractionism quite different from the works of the previous decade, for example in ''Pilot of the Infinite'' (1931) and ''Biological Apparition'' (1940). Prampolini was an influence on Tullio Crali.

Life

After studying with Dullio Cambellotti at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, he became a leading member of the Futurist Movement as a painter, scenographer and architect. He had close contacts with the representatives of the European avant-garde art, with the

Section d'Or The Section d'Or ("Golden Section"), also known as Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, was a collective of Painting, painters, sculptors, poets and critics associated with Cubism and Orphism (art), Orphism. Based in the Parisian suburbs, the grou ...

Dadaism Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

, the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body ...

, the Abstraction-Création group, with

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Piet Mondrian,

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

and

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

. From 1913 for a period collaborates with the monthly magazine in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In 1917, with Bino Sanminiatelli he founded the magazine ''Noi''. The same year, he realised the sets for the futurist film

Thaïs Thaïs or Thais ( el, Θαΐς; flourished 4th century BC) was a famous Greek ''hetaira'' who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. Likely from Athens, she is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis. At the time, Thaï ...

, directed by

Anton Giulio Bragaglia __NOTOC__ Anton Giulio Bragaglia (11 February 1890 – 15 July 1960) was a pioneer in Italian Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty ...

. He created the interior of a dream and suffocating villa, whose walls are decorated with spirals, lozenges, chessboards and symbolic figures. This film had a significant influence on the anti-naturalistic scenes of

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

. Prampolini's work occupies a place of its own in the European abstract art, characterized by its deep concern for the dynamism and

Organicism Organicism is the philosophical position that states that the universe and its various parts (including human societies) ought to be considered alive and naturally ordered, much like a living organism.Gilbert, S. F., and S. Sarkar. 2000. "Embrac ...

, which manifests itself in the cosmic visions and dreams of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1927 he founded the "Futurist Theatre Prampolini". In 1928 he conceived the Futurist Pavilion at the "Esposizione del Valentino" in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, which was realised by Fillìa and Pino Curtone. Together with Fillia, he realized in 1933 a large mosaic ''Le comunicazioni'' for the tower of the ''Palazzo delle Poste'' in La Spezia. After the futurist experience, he produced different materials and works, sometimes influenced by the visions of the microcosm. He declared that his aim to express the extreme latitudes of the introspective world. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1944 he taught theatre and set design at the

Brera Academy The Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera ("academy of fine arts of Brera"), also known as the or Brera Academy, is a state-run tertiary public academy of fine arts in Milan, Italy. It shares its history, and its main building, with the Pinacoteca di ...

in Milan.

References

External links

Enrico Prampolini
arte-argomenti.org. URL consultato il 08-07-2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Prampolini, Enrico Italian Futurist painters Futurist sculptors 1894 births 1956 deaths Abstract painters Italian male painters Italian male sculptors Italian scenic designers Artists from Modena 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century Italian sculptors 20th-century Italian male artists Olympic competitors in art competitions Brera Academy faculty