(Villarosa 1908–1978 Messina)
L’arrivo (Gli idrovolanti capitanati da Italo Balbo sorvolano il lago Michigan), 1933, signed D’Anna Futurista, oil on wooden panels joined together, 77.7 x 115 cm, framed

Photo certificate:
Archivio Storico dei Futuristi Siciliani, curated by A. M. Ruta and Galleria Diomedea, Palermo

Provenance:
Galleria La Palma, Syracuse (stamp on the reverse)
Christie’s, London 28 February 2018, lot 474
Private Collection, Italy

Exhibited:
Rome, Serate Futuriste, M. I. C. R. O., May/June 2005
Vittoria, Giulio D’Anna Futurismo e Aeropittura, curated by Maurizio Scudiero, A. M. Ruta, S. Carbone, Galleria Edone, May 2019, cat. p. 69 with ill.

In the 1920s and 1930s epic feats in the realm of flight held the same fascination and enjoyed the same enthusiastic, global audience as the space exploits of the 1960s. The great pilots were loved and admired as the stars of the show.
After two voyages in the Mediterranean, Italo Balbo – the Minister of Aeronautics - decided to attempt a crossing of the Southern Atlantic, arriving in Rio de Janeiro. He succeeded in 1931, albeit with a few mishaps.
The preparatory work for the second Atlantic crossing (1 July – 12 August 1933) began immediately afterwards, with the intention of celebrating the tenth anniversary of the March on Rome. Before then, the difficult crossing of the Northern Atlantic had been attempted 78 times by various aircraft, but only 28 of these attempts were successful. Starting from Orbetello, Balbo and his seaplane team would follow a route in stages via Amsterdam, Londonderry, Reykjavik, Shediac, Montreal, Chicago and New York, and would return to Italy stopping in Portugal and finally landing in Rome.
1933 was a truly exceptional year for Italian sport and technology: at the end of June it was interpreted as a good omen that Primo Carnera won the world heavyweight title in America; on 10 April Italy won the Schneider Trophy, setting a speed of 682 kilometres; on 16 April the fencing team were victorious in the Monte Carlo tournament; on 15 August a new speedboat record was set; on 16 August the SS Rex took the Blue Riband for the crossing of the Atlantic; on 17 September the runner Luigi Beccali set a new world record over 1500 metres; on 8 October the speed record for planes over 100 kilometres was beaten.
The ocean crossing of the Italian seaplanes captained by Balbo was successful and Italian aeronautics became legendary all over the world. A spectacle dreamt up by Balbo also became a reality: 24 seaplanes flew in perfect formation over the skyscrapers of New York. The traffic stopped, everyone ran to the windows, and in the port the ships emitted a single deafening whistle of greeting. The shores of the Hudson, where the team made a sea landing, were crowded like a stadium on cup final day.
When Balbo arrived at the Madison Square Bowl on Long Island (the largest stadium in the United States) it was packed, and there were as many spectators outside as inside. In an age not yet accustomed to celebrity culture, the sight was almost more impressive than the flight itself.
In Chicago, where the World’s Fair was taking place, the pilots were immediately taken through the crowded streets in a huge motorcade to a stadium full of tens of thousands of people. The mayor proclaimed the day “Italo Balbo’s Day” and announced that the city council had decided to name a street after him.
Perhaps the most curious ceremony was Balbo’s crowning as head of the Sioux, with a gigantic crown of bright feathers, and the attribution of the name “Flying Eagle”.