Gerardo Dottori Futurist Aeropainter

A Futurist from as early as 1912, a youthful critic of Perugia’s Academy of Fine Arts – of which he would later become director – and a writer of ‘words-in-freedom’ poetry during the First World War, Gerardo Dottori is renowned for his distinctive imagery focusing on the dynamism of the natural world. Today, he is widely considered one of the principal exponents of the movement founded by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, alongside artists such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, Fortunato Depero and Enrico Prampolini. During the 1920s, Dottori was one of the first painters to consider flight a serious source of artistic inspiration, and would go on to pioneer the genre of ‘aeropainting’; he was also among the foremost practitioners of Futurist sacred art. A signatory of numerous manifestos and theoretical statements, he moved to Rome in 1926, where he championed Futurist ideology and aesthetics through his work as a journalist. Between 1924 and 1943 he was represented at every Venice Biennale and Rome Quadriennale, as well as numerous Futurist shows throughout Europe and the United States. During the 1960s, his work was rediscovered by the art historians Guido Ballo, Enrico Crispolti and Maurizio Calvesi, and has since featured in every major international Futurist exhibition. Most recently, these have included: Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (2014); Dall’alto: Aeropittura futurista at the Labirinto della Masone, Parma (2022); Futurismo italiano: Il contributo del Mezzogiorno at the Museo Nazionale di Matera (2023–24); and Il tempo del futurismo at Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (2025). The catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work was published in 2006 by EFFE Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, and was edited by Massimo Duranti, President of the Archivi Gerardo Dottori (established in 2005). The Raccolta Dottori, comprising many of the artist’s masterpieces, is today permanently housed at Perugia’s Palazzo della Penna – Centro per le Arti Contemporanee. Comprehensive yet accessible, the present publication offers an up-to-date introduction to one of the leading figures of 20th-century Italian art.

Massimo Duranti studied at the University of Perugia, and is an art critic, journalist and member of the Accademia di Belle Arti ‘Pietro Vannucci’, as well as of the Deputazione di Storia Patria per l’Umbria (a scholarly historical society).
A recipient of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, he is an expert on 20th-century art, with a particular focus on Futurism.
Over the years he has written and edited essays and monographs on a number of artists; he also edited the catalogue raisonné of Gerardo Dottori’s work, published in 2006 by EFFE Fabrizio Fabbri Editore.
Duranti has contributed to newspapers, art journals and specialist websites, and edited the periodical ContemporArt for many years. He has curated countless exhibitions in Italy, including Dall’alto: Aeropittura futurista at the Labirinto della Masone in Parma (2022), and Futurismo italiano: Il contributo del Mezzogiorno at the Museo Nazionale di Matera (2023-24). He has also curated both monographic and group shows in London, New York, Moscow, Chur and Minsk, and has lectured on art history both in Italy and abroad. Having established the Archivi Gerardo Dottori in 2005, he was one of the founders of the Archivio Tato in 2022 and currently serves as the President of both organisations.