Lost mural found behind wallpaper
86 views · Published 24 October 2018 · 3:55 · Indexed 10 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(19 Oct 2018) LEADIN : Its not every day you peel off some wallpaper and find a forgotten masterpiece, but that is exactly what happened during a restoration in down town Rome. The building hosted the first Futurist cabaret in the 1920's called the Bal Tic Tac, whose interior decoration was done by the futurist master Giacomo Balla. STORYLINE In an ordinary street, under a poster showing art work by pop artist Andy Warhol, is a door into the past, which is full of futurism. The building, known as Villa Huffer, is owned by The Bank of Italy, and during a 2017 restoration the builders struck art gold. They pulled back some wallpaper to reveal around 80 square meters of murals by the famous futurist artist Giacomo Balla. The room is believed to have been a futurist cabaret named the Bal Tic Tac, where futurist artists and other intellectuals would meet within the context of abstract-futurist artistic expression, explains Francesco Prosperetti, Rome's cultural heritage special superintendent. "Futurism, as Balla was a well-rounded artist, was offering multiple aesthetics. Here they used to play innovative music, they used to do new dances, they recited poems and the people used to dress in a futuristic style. Once you crossed the threshold of this place you entered the world of future. You could live a dimension that was completely different than the contemporary people were living in Rome. This is a proof of how Rome was able to interpret the themes of modernity, already one hundred years ago." The tempera paintings, believed to have been completed approximately one century ago, were painted during the abstract-futurist phase of Balla's career, during which he produced his most notorious artworks. "Since this is a mural painting, not a mobile painting, he invites us to study him within the context which produced this type of decoration. This was the expression of a vision of the artist, which was complete, which regarded all social behaviors, so he used this to express himself, this figurative expression. He showed this in all of the decoration of the place. He decorated and designed everything, the lamps, the sign outside, the furniture, he even designed some garments," says art historian Morena Costantini. The murals will be kept where they are and will become part of the Bank of Italy's museum dedicated to monetary and financial education. "This decoration will stay here. This real estate that at the beginning of the 20's housed the Bal Tic Tac will become part of the Bank of Italy museum dedicated to the monetary and financial education. A multimedia and interactive museum, that will be housed in this building, Villa Huffer. It will be an opportunity to tell story of this place. It will be possible to visit it freely. In this way it will be possible to learn something about both currency, finance and also on futurism, Giacomo Balla, Bal Tic Tac and the art history of Italy from the 1920's," says Massimo Omiccioli, the Bank of Italy's coin museum director. The Italian art movement known as Futurism began around 1909, the year Italian poet and editor Filippo Tomaso Marinetti published his famous manifesto on futurism. It glorified technology and machines, exalted conflict and violence and called for sweeping changes, including the destruction of old cultural institutions like museums and libraries. Futurism encompassed art, literature, theater and music. Although it was one of the broadest artistic movements of the last century, it was later tainted by its association with fascism. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a4a0a78808f3e1c69c498fd1cbefaf3d
