Dall’alto

A fascinating, modern – and uniquely Italian – form of landscape art, Aeropittura is the focus of this exhibition held at the Labirinto della Masone. Emerging as an expansion of Futurism, Aeropittura reflected the artists’ interest in the pictorial rendering of movement and speed, as well as their fascination with flight and aerial views. Following the stages of the movement, the book presents the almost one hundred works on display. An introduction by Vittorio Sgarbi is followed by a critical essay by the exhibition curator, Massimo Duranti, who describes the climate in which Aeropittura developed and highlights the characteristics of its exponents, exploring their multifaceted styles. Painting was the prevailing art form, with Dottori, Peruzzi, Fillia, Prampolini, Crali and Tato among the most recognisable names (to say nothing of the great masters Balla and Depero who often experimented with aerial imagery), but there were also drawings, watercolours, medium-size graphic works and even some aerosculptures. The volume is rounded out by a text by Andrea Baffoni outlining original parallelisms between maze and Aeropittura, and the apparatus collecting a bibliography, timeline and manifestos of the movement.