Ardengo Soffici
Italy (1878—1964)Soffici moved to Florence to study at the Academy of Fine Arts before travelling to Paris in 1900 to visit the Universal Exhibition. He remained in France for seven years, coming into contact with artists such as Braque, Picasso, Gris and Apollinaire. Back in Italy, he established himself as an art critic, writing on Cubism and organising an exhibition of French Impressionism in Florence in 1910, with a room dedicated to Medardo Rosso. Although initially critical of Futurism, he became increasingly interested in the movement and exhibited with the Futurists in 1913. He also worked as an editor of the journal Lacerba. His artistic research combined Futurist principles with the muted colours and analytical forms of Cubism. During the First World War, he experimented with Futurist typography in BÏF§ZF+18. Simultaneità e chimismi lirici. After the war, he abandoned avant-garde experimentation in favour of a more traditional, naturalistic style, focusing particularly on landscapes.
