Exhibition catalogue: Osvaldo Peruzzi. Futurism, Geometry and Color
Galleria Russo presents the exhibition Osvaldo Peruzzi. Futurism, Geometry and Color, curated by Massimo Duranti and dedicated to one of the most original and independent figures of Italian Futurism and Aeropainting. Peruzzi stands out as a representative of mature Futurism and of a fully conscious avant-garde vision. He participated in the Venice Biennale of 1934, 1938, and 1942, the Rome Quadriennale, and in traveling Futurist exhibitions throughout Europe.
The exhibition traces significant moments in the artist’s production, from the 1930s through his later mature works, revealing the complexity of a poetic vision founded on the balance between Futurist dynamism, geometric construction, and chromatic tension, always directed toward what he described as “otherworldly scenarios.”
The exhibition project highlights Peruzzi’s investigation into the synthesis of form and inner perception, a principle articulated in the Manifesto of the Plasticity of Individual Essence (Volterra, August 11, 1941), in which the artist affirmed the need to move beyond mere representation in order to grasp the psychological and emotional essence of the subject. Painting thus becomes a space for the visual translation of states of mind, constructed through geometric structures and dynamic chromatic relationships.
As Duranti writes in the catalogue:
“Prampolini had long been exploring ‘Cosmic Idealism,’ moving beyond the ‘Earth Futurism’ of machine dynamism and beyond the Futurism of the air embodied by Aeropainting. Depero was increasingly engaged with his mechanistic approach, developing advertising and playful imagery. Dottori was elaborating the so-called ‘new modern landscape,’ as defined by Guido Ballo, softening the boldness of Aeropainting. Peruzzi developed a ‘new figuration of geometric splendor,’ preserving intact a geometrism founded on rich chromatic harmonies within a palimpsest of images characterized by reduced synthetic insistence but an undiminished search for essence, whether of figures or landscapes, set within captivating narrative contexts.”
Within this framework, Peruzzi absorbed both Dottori’s aerial and landscape-based lessons and Prampolini’s cosmic-idealist vision. As Andrea Baffoni observes, this meant embracing:
“the beauty of flight as an elevation toward surprising horizons, where the artist places himself as part of the experience rather than as a mere observer. It is a participatory Aeropainting, painting as if immersed within the element of air itself, becoming one essence with the principle of flight understood as spiritual elevation.”
Particular importance is given to the theme of the modern city, interpreted as a living and pulsating organism. From Italian urban visions to views of the American metropolis—such as Summer Manhattan Twilight (1943, oil on canvas, 93 × 75.5 cm)—the urban dimension becomes a field of visual experimentation in which simultaneity, movement, and aerial perception achieve an original synthesis. The compositions dedicated to skyscrapers and flight testify to Peruzzi’s full engagement with the Aeropainting movement, reinterpreted through a personal language that is at once rigorous and lyrical.
The exhibition brings together paintings, works on paper, and documentary materials that offer insight into Peruzzi’s artistic and personal journey. It highlights his central role within second-generation Futurism and the continuity of his research in the postwar period, balancing cosmic voyages and flying machines directed toward unknown horizons. While his work occasionally approaches certain Spatialist suggestions, it remains faithful to the lessons of Futurism.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Gangemi Editore, featuring critical essays by Massimo Duranti, Andrea Baffoni, Rachele Chiarelli, and Beatrice Falcione. Their contributions examine the artist’s stylistic evolution and place his work within the history of Futurism and the subsequent development of Italian abstract-geometric research.
