Maker/Artist
Depero, Fortunato
Italian painter, scenographer, and graphic artist, 1892-1960
Depero worked in multiple media, hoping to unite artistic modes using materials of every kind, extending to theatrical productions. Through Marinetti he officially joined the Futurists ca.1914, but is not considered a founding member. With Balla he wrote the 'manifesto Ricostruzione futurista dell’universo' in 1915. He was also active as a poet. In 1917, he was invited to Capri by Gilbert Clavel (1883–1927) to illustrate his book 'Un istituto per suicidi,' and worked with Clavel on the his Teatro Plastico, a theatrical production without actors, which was performed in the Balli plastici, staged in 1918 at the Teatro dei Piccoli in Rome. He lived in New York City twice, first in the late 1920s, and again in the late 1940s, where he did work as a graphic designer for popular magazines and as an interior designer, which he continued to do in Italy. In the 1930s he was active as an art critic.
