Fortunato Depero: order, disorder, and genius among archives, libraries, and collections

Fortunato Depero would laugh heartily if he saw us busy recounting the stories of his archive, his books, and his works. A cynical laugh, no doubt. And he would be right. Our efforts to bring “order” to his legacy are miserably thwarted by the realization that our rigid classifications are limited and limiting, and fail to convey the man, the artist, the genius. Depero leaves us a legacy of over 3,500 works, books, magazines, and his personal archive. By retracing his history and movements, we can deepen our knowledge of the artist and the methods of conservation, management, and restitution of the heterogeneous collection donated to the Mart.