FUTURISM
Los Angeles County Museum, 1962
[Filippo Tommaso Marinetti]: FUTURISM. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum, 1962. Original Impression. Poster. 13.75” x 17.75” trim size image printed via offset lithography on an uncoated sheet. machine folded in quarters [as issued] for mailing. January 4th postage cancellation, typed address, mailing tabbed stickers, and ‘FUTURISM’ in pencil to verso, minor handling wear, but a very good example.
Mailer invitation for the members reception of the Futurism show initiated at the Museum of Modern Art in 1961, that traveled to the Detroit Institute of Arts and finally ended at the Los Angeles County Museum in January, 1962.
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s Self-Portrait (1914) was used with red and green text knocked out of a full bleed black halftone. Designer unknown.
The arrival of Futurism on the European art scene marked the birth of an ideology of the avant-garde that radically altered the process of artistic production as well as the function of the artist in society. Art was no longer to be regarded as a sterile speculative exercise carried out in the ivory tower of the academy or museum, but rather a vital force working at the very heart of society. As for the artist, shedding the Romantic image of bohemian genius, he was to play the role of a cultural catalyst, claiming his place in society as a direct participant in the making of history. Believe it.