The great mine of the Salce Collection, the most important and largest collection of historical posters in Italy and one of the most important public collections in the sector in the world, reveals a spectacular sequence of its treasures. With the title "Paper Futurism", the spotlight will be turned on an aspect not yet sufficiently investigated of the multifaceted expressions of the most vital of the Italian avant-gardes. The investigation, conducted by Elisabetta Pasqualin, director of the Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce with Sabina Collodel, it will develop over two subsequent moments with as many exhibitions. The first, with the declination "Forms of the avant-garde in the posters of the Salce Collection" will be at San Gaetano from 28 October 2023 to 11 February 2024.

To follow, from March 1st to June 30th 2024, the second part, marked by the subtitle "Imagining the universe with the art of advertising". The catalogue, published by L'Erma di Bretschneider, is unique and brings together the images and scientific considerations on the entire exhibition itinerary. "It is well known that Futurism was pervasive in every aspect of everyday life, including publishing and advertising graphics" , recalls director Pasqualin. “It is precisely the latter that turns out to be the expression that best suits the futurist language which finds its greatest exponent in Fortunato Depero: in the manifesto Futurism and advertising art, from 1931, he declares “the art of the future will be powerfully advertising".

Among the artists present in the exhibition we remember Mario Sironi, Marcello Dudovich, Fortunato Depero, Federico Seneca, Marcello Nizzoli, Gino Boccasile, Nicolai Diulgheroff, Xanti Schawinsky, Giulio Cisari, Lucio Venna, Umberto di Lazzaro, Luigi MartinatiAnd it is precisely on the graphic declination of Futurist art that this exhibition focuses on "because, although works on canvas and sculpture are well known and easy to recognise, advertising posters still remain a niche sector and have developed their own specific language. First of all, the use of the typographical elements is innovative, the letters become more solid and showy, the words are arranged freely in space according to forceful oblique lines or following the sinuosities of the shapes, the choice of colors falls on the brightest ones which are combined by contrast, the light and sound become visible enough to be represented through circular beams and rings, even perspective loses all the certainties consolidated over the centuries and is broken down into interpenetrating planes. The human figures are less defined and in some cases we witness the "animation of the product" which is composed in order to simulate a different subject, such as the example of Mario Bazzi who composed a little man built with milk for Lampo".