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Critique of the Futurism Exhibition at Rome's GNAMC

opinion-review · 2026-04-26

Gabriella De Marco critiques 'Il tempo del Futurismo' at the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAMC) in Rome, curated by Gabriele Simongini, running until February 28, 2025. She argues the exhibition, featuring 350 works from national and international collections, fails to convey the international scope of Futurism, omitting key figures like Ruggero Vasari and connections to Vorticism, Dada, and Russian Futurism. The show overemphasizes Giacomo Balla while underrepresenting Boccioni, Carrà, and Severini. De Marco notes the absence of Southern Italian Futurists, such as Pippo Rizzo, and neglects multimedia aspects like theater, cinema, and fashion. She criticizes the curatorial reliance on a hierarchical, painting-centric art history, and the superficial treatment of the relationship between Futurism and technology, including a weak link to generative AI. The exhibition lacks epistemological context (Bergson, non-Euclidean geometry, theosophy) and ignores the movement's complex engagement with fascism and the 1937-38 degenerate art debate. De Marco contrasts this with more innovative shows like 'Signac collectionneur' at Musée d'Orsay and the Reina Sofía's handling of Guernica.

Key facts

  • Exhibition 'Il tempo del Futurismo' at GNAMC, Rome, until February 28, 2025.
  • Curated by Gabriele Simongini.
  • 350 works from GNAMC, national museums, private collections, and international museums.
  • Features artists: Balla, Boccioni, Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Carrà, Depero, Drudeville, Fillia, Prampolini, Russolo, Romani, Severini, Tato.
  • Includes works: Boccioni's 'Tre donne' and 'Trittico degli stati d'animo', Balla's 'Lampada ad arco', Russolo's 'La rivolta', Pannaggi's 'Funzione architettonica', film 'Velocità' by Cordero, Martina, Oriani.
  • Lacks representation of international Futurism, including Vorticism, Belgian Futurism, and connections to Dada and Russian avant-garde.
  • Omits Southern Italian Futurists like Pippo Rizzo, Vittorio Corona, Ruggero Vasari, and women artists like Clelia Adele Gloria, Rosita Lo Jacono, Luigia Zamparo Corona.
  • Criticized for insufficient coverage of theater, cinema, music, fashion, photography, architecture, and graphic design.
  • Fails to address Futurism's relationship with fascism and the 1937-38 degenerate art campaign.
  • De Marco references earlier Futurism exhibitions: MoMA's 1949 'Twentieth Century Italian Art' and 1961 'Futurism', and 2014 Guggenheim show.

Entities

Artists

Institutions

  • Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAMC)
  • Artribune
  • Treccani
  • Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
  • Musée d'Orsay
  • MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)
  • Guggenheim Museum
  • Mart (Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto)
  • Getty Research Institute
  • Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
  • Yale University
  • Università di Palermo
  • Biblioteca dell'Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei e Corsiniana
  • Silvana Editore
  • Garzanti Editore
  • De Luca Editore
  • Celebes Editore
  • Bisso Edizioni
  • Gallimard
  • Le Figaro

Locations

  • Rome
  • Italy
  • New York
  • United States
  • Paris
  • France
  • Düsseldorf
  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Russia
  • Soviet Union
  • Sicily
  • Campania
  • Palermo
  • Madrid
  • Spain
  • Otterlo
  • Netherlands

Sources

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