Tullio Crali's Futurist Career Surveyed at Estorick Collection London

The Estorick Collection in London presents 'Tullio Crali: A Futurist Life', a comprehensive survey of the Italian artist's career spanning over sixty works. Crali (Igalo, 1910 – Milan, 2000) was a devoted yet ambivalent Futurist, less aligned with the movement's fascist politics than many peers. The exhibition traces his trajectory from 1920s enthusiasm for modernity through wartime adherence to Mussolini's campaigns to postwar disillusionment. Crali is best known for aeropainting, a style merging geometric aesthetics with dynamic aerial perspectives, inspired by his first flight in 1928. Works like 'Volo' (1929) and 'Omaggio alle Ali Tricolori' (1932) exemplify his focus on the experience of flight rather than mere technological propaganda. During the 1940s, Crali supported fascist war efforts more out of Futurist fervor than political conviction, leading Marinetti to name him sole heir in 1944. After WWII, Crali endured imprisonment by Germans, Yugoslav partisans, and Americans in Gorizia, prompting a turn toward nature. Later works depict Breton coasts, port scenes, and natural landscapes, retaining aerial perspectives but shifting from military to contemplative subjects. The exhibition runs until April 11, 2020.