Looking for something?

Tap outside or press close

ResourcesBooks

The Bolted Book: Campaign to revive a rare typographic book by Fortunato Depero

An exciting new project has been launched to reissue a rare art book and exquisite object from 1927. Depero Futurista (also known as "The Bolted Book" for the two industrial metal bolts that fastened its pages together) is Fortunato Depero's futurist monograph, considered by many to be the first artist's book of the modern era.

Written By:
Fortunato Depero's Depero Futurista book from 1927, featuring bold black typography on a blue-green cover, fastened together with two metal bolts

If you are not familiar with Depero, he was a prominent (yet often overshadowed) member of the Italian Futurist movement, which was chronicled in the Guggenheim Museum's 2014 exhibition "Italian Futurism, 1909-1944: Reconstructing the Universe".

He lived in New York City for many years where he designed across disciplines, working on everything from furnishings, textiles, and exposition pavilions to covers for Vogue and The New Yorker and iconic advertising campaigns for brands like Campari. The Bolted Book brought together the brilliance and depth of Depero’s work, which often blurred the lines between fine art and advertising, and demonstrated his radical approach to typography and book design.

In order to allow greater access to this visionary artist, Designers & Books, MART (Museo D'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto), and CIMA (the Center for Italian Modern Art) are launching a Kickstarter campaign on October 18 to publish a new facsimile edition of this groundbreaking book.

To view all of the contents of the original book, and stay in the loop about the upcoming campaign, visit www.boltedbook.com.

Via Creative Boom submission | All images courtesy of Boltedbook.com

Open spread from Depero Futurista showing a black and white photograph of a man at a vanity mirror with lights, alongside the word DEPERO in bold typography
Open spread of Depero Futurista showing handwritten inscription on left page and bold typography for "DEPERO FUTURISTA" with dates 1913-1927 on right page
Open spread of Depero Futurista showing blank cream pages on the left and bright orange cover with black typography on the right, featuring the book's title and Italian text
Open pages of Depero Futurista showing a blank left page and right page with futurist typography and a radial "W" design by Fortunato Depero, dated December
Open pages of Depero Futurista showing blank left page and right page with orange and black typographic text and "DINAMO" prominently displayed
Open spread of Depero Futurista showing blank left page and mint-green right page with black typography arranged diagonally, including the word "DEPERO
Open facsimile of Manifesti Murali showing a cream page on the left and a mauve page with bold black typography on the right
Open spread of Depero Futurista showing a gradient orange page on left and right page with black and orange Dinamo logo and Italian text listing cities and publication details
Close-up of The Bolted Book's spine showing wooden pages held together by two industrial metal bolts
A gallery wall displaying numerous pages and designs from Depero Futurista alongside a dining table and black chairs beneath two pendant lights
Share

Further Reading