Elena Di Raddo

«A Power Station of Commanding Spirituality»: Marinetti, Ciliberti, Sartoris and Abstractism in Como ELENA DI RADDO The encounter between Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and the local abstract painters on the banks of Lake Como constitutes an interesting episode in the history of Italian art, as it witnesses the heritage of the Futurist movement and the birth of a new tendency which, in the specific case of Como, was closely linked to architectural rationalism. The leader of Futurism hoped to find new life for his artistic movement in the innovative environment of the cultural milieu of Manlio Rho, Mario Radice, Carla Badiali and architects Giuseppe Terragni and Cesare Cattaneo, joined in the Thirties by a couple of noteworthy intellectuals, architect Alberto Sartoris and philosopher Franco Ciliberti. The essay analyzes the development of this relationship, showing that the abstract painters approached Marinetti not only in order to gain the favour of such an influential personality, but also as a reciprocal cultural enrichment. Moving from Marinetti’s initial presence in Como with the artists of “Second Futurism”, the essay describes his passionate participation to the city’s life, in defence of Antonio Sant’Elia’s architecture, and the strengthening of such bond in some relevant episodes, such as the formation – thanks to Ciliberti – of the Gruppo Futuristi Sant’Elia in 1941, which brought to the presence of the Como abstract painters at the Venice Biennale and the Rome Quadriennale in the rooms of Futurism, organized by Marinetti.