Ivo Pannaggi: A “Muscovite from Marche” Between Mechanical Art and Constructivism

Ivo Pannaggi (1901–1981), a lesser-known representative of Italian Futurism, contrary to many of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s adepts, did not support Benito Mussolini’s regime. Although born in the small town of Macerata (where he later died), Pannaggi developed his own artistic path in an international perspective: he lived in Berlin and in Norway (1939–1971), he was affiliated with the Bauhaus, and he was deeply influenced by Russian constructivism. Taking as a starting point Pannaggi’s “Manifesto dell’arte meccanica futurista”, co-authored with Vinicio Paladini (20 June 1922), seminal episodes of his mechanical aesthetics are re-assessed based on new evidence. Here, I focus on the possible influence that the Russian émigré dancer, Valentin Parnakh, could have had on the “Ballo meccanico futurista” Pannaggi and Paladini staged in Rome on 2 June 1922, as well as on Pannaggi’s failed collaboration with the Berlin-based futurist Ruggero Vasari for the costume and set design of the drama “L’angoscia delle macchine”.