Anton Giulio Bragaglia
Encyclopedia
Anton Giulio Bragaglia was a pioneer in Italian
Futurist
photography
and Futurist cinema
. A versatile and intellectual artist with wide interests, he wrote about film
, theatre, and dance.
, Lazio. In 1906 he went to work as an assistant director of a Roman movie studio managed by his father Francesco. He gained a great deal of technical and artistic experience there, learning from directors Mario Caserini and Enrico Guazzoni.
In 1918 he opened an art gallery, the "Casa d'Arte Bragaglia", which became a nexus of avant garde artists and exhibitions. It displayed the work of such modernists as Balla, Depero, De Chirico, Boccioni, Klimt and Kandinsky. In 1919 he directed plays by Rosso di San Secondo and Pirandello
.
From 1921 to 1924 Bragaglia published the satirical pamphlet Index Rerum Virorumque Prohibitorum ("Index of Forbidden Things and Men"). In 1922 he opened the "Teatro Sperimentale degli Indipendent" which he directed till 1936. The same year he founded his own theater company ("Company Bragaglia Shows"), which also became a focal point for the Italian avant garde. In 1932, he was named advisor to the Corporazione dello Spettacolo (Enteratainment Guild). The Teatro closed in 1936, and from 1937 to 1943 he was director of the foundation "Teatro delle Arti".
Bragaglia described his theories on the theater in Maschera mobile (1926), Del teatro teatrale ossia del teatro ( 1927), and Il segreto di Tabarrino (1933). He directed more than fifty productions. From 1926 until 1960, he also wrote a number of articles and books about art, the theater and motion pictures.
Bragaglia died in Rome
on July 15, 1960.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Futurist
Futurism
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...
photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
and Futurist cinema
Italian Futurism (cinema)
Italian Futurism was a movement in film history from 1916 to 1919 influenced by Futurism. Italian Futurism influenced Russian Futurist cinema and German Expressionism....
. A versatile and intellectual artist with wide interests, he wrote about film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theatre, and dance.
Early life
Bragaglia was born in FrosinoneFrosinone
Frosinone is a town and comune in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the Province of Frosinone. It is located about 75 km south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples Autostrada A1...
, Lazio. In 1906 he went to work as an assistant director of a Roman movie studio managed by his father Francesco. He gained a great deal of technical and artistic experience there, learning from directors Mario Caserini and Enrico Guazzoni.
Futurism
In 1911 he published the treatise Fotodinamismo and began lecturing on the concept. In the same year he became the chief editor of the art and theater newspaper "L'Artista". He published two Futurist manifestos, http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modernism-modernity/toc/mod15.2.html Fotodinamica Futurista (1912) and Manifesto of Futurist Cinema (1916). In 1916 he founded the avant garde magazine Cronache di Attualità, which examined politics, music, theater and art from a Futurist standpoint. In the same year he founded the film studio "Novissima-Film", and produced some visionary Futurist films including Thais (also known as Perfido incanto).In 1918 he opened an art gallery, the "Casa d'Arte Bragaglia", which became a nexus of avant garde artists and exhibitions. It displayed the work of such modernists as Balla, Depero, De Chirico, Boccioni, Klimt and Kandinsky. In 1919 he directed plays by Rosso di San Secondo and Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
.
From 1921 to 1924 Bragaglia published the satirical pamphlet Index Rerum Virorumque Prohibitorum ("Index of Forbidden Things and Men"). In 1922 he opened the "Teatro Sperimentale degli Indipendent" which he directed till 1936. The same year he founded his own theater company ("Company Bragaglia Shows"), which also became a focal point for the Italian avant garde. In 1932, he was named advisor to the Corporazione dello Spettacolo (Enteratainment Guild). The Teatro closed in 1936, and from 1937 to 1943 he was director of the foundation "Teatro delle Arti".
Bragaglia described his theories on the theater in Maschera mobile (1926), Del teatro teatrale ossia del teatro ( 1927), and Il segreto di Tabarrino (1933). He directed more than fifty productions. From 1926 until 1960, he also wrote a number of articles and books about art, the theater and motion pictures.
Bragaglia died in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on July 15, 1960.
Filmography
- ThaisThaïs (Italian film)Thaïs, also known as Perfido incanto is a 1917 silent film directed by Anton Giulio Bragaglia. The movie is the only surviving Italian futurist film and currently kept at the Cinémathèque Française...
(1917) - Il mio cadavere (1917)
- Vele ammainate (1931)
- Perfido incanto (1918)
- Un dramma nell'Olimpo (1917)