Futurism & futurisms = Futurismo & Futurismi /

This catalog of a major exhibition in Venice is a remarkable book and one that should be in all academic libraries. As a treasury of illustrations (many from infrequently visited collections) and information related to futurism, it is unmatched by any other source. It also reinforces the tendency toward more synthetic thinking about early 20th century modernism initiated by the Philadelphia Museum's Futurism and the International Avant-Garde (1980). Yet Hulten's book moves that tendency forward by a quantum leap by virtue of the number and range of its excellent illustrations as well as by the richness of its documentation. In organizing his catalog, Hulten did not seek to replicate the theoretical and stylistic studies provided by Marianne Martin's Futuristic Art and Theory (CH, Jun '69) or Joshua Taylor's Futurism (1961). Instead, he enlisted the aid of many leading scholars to compile a 200-page dictionary of futurism, which could stand alone as an important resource on avant-garde activity in the early century. One could quibble that many of the translations are awkward and that the select bibliography is limited to works published after 1974, but this volume is a must acquisition for the reference section of all academic and art libraries.-R.E. McVaugh, Colgate University

The brainchild of one man, Filippo Tomasso Marinetti, futurism was the Italian response to cubism, which it resembled in its concern for the visual expression of movement. As Hulten notes, ``Cubism was individualistic and contemplative; Futurism was social, political and aggressive.'' Futurist art characteristically shows objects in motion in all of their positions as they carom through space. From Italy, the movement spread worldwide, most famously to Russia, where the poet Maiakovsky was its propagandist, and to Britain under the rubric vorticism. Brilliant work by all the major futurists and those they influenced appears in the original tones on nearly 380 pages of plates, followed by a 200-page dictionary of futurism. Photographers, architects, and composers are represented alongside the painters and sculptors in the plates, attesting to the biblelike status of the foot-high, three-inch-thick tome. Worth every penny of its high price to most art libraries. Chronology, catalog of works not among the plates, bibliography, and index. RO. 709'.04 Futurism (Art) Exhibitions / Arts, Modern 20th century Exhibitions [OCLC] 86-17271