(Innsbruck 1894–1965 Rome)
Luce+fabbriche+periferia, c. 1914, signed R. M. Baldessari, oil on canvas, 54.5 x 71 cm, framed

Photo certificate:
Archivio Unico per il catalogo delle Opere Futuriste di Roberto Marcello Baldessari, n. B14–18, dated Rovereto 24/11/2011

Provenance:
Private Collection, Austria
Private Collection, Italy

The present painting is one of a very small group of works that document Baldessari’s early Futurist period, during which he was still heavily influenced by Carlo Carrà’s style. This is manifest in the use of long pigment filaments and the depiction of the street lights, which are reminiscent of “Notturno a Piazza Beccaria” and constitute an homage to Carrà. In addition, Baldessari weaves in references to the diaphanous nocturnal figures painted by Russolo, sharply backlit and shaped by grazing light. These features also occur in another important painting from this early period, the large canvas titled “Luce+Ambiente (Luna Park)”.
(R.M.B., Catalogo Generale, vol. 2, 1996, no. 7).

Furthermore, the subjects of urban outskirts and factories are recurring features in Boccioni’s work.
Baldessari reveals a keen interest in the stylistic evolution of early Futurism, from which he would develop his own pictorial language towards 1916.

The present work, which has been rediscovered along with another with a similar subject and style (Luce+Folla+Strada, 1914), constitutes an important addition to our knowledge of the artist’s oeuvre.