5. The 1930s and Aeropainting

The 1930s saw the celebration of the aeroplane as the definitive “machine” of modernity. Aeropainting sprang from the brand new experience of perception in flight, and opened novel horizons. It cancelled out the Renaissance notion of perspective, giving rise to a headlong vision, distorting spatial relationships, and curving the horizon.
Some artists inverted this plunging perspective, lifting their eyes to scan the mysteries of the cosmos. Flight thus became a mental experience, embodying the ancient utopia of the legend of Icarus, on a quest to explore the mystery of the divine. This is the current of Cosmic Idealism, which then gave rise to the strand of Polimaterismo.

TATO, Sorvolando in spirale il Colosseo (Spiralata), 1930
Olio su tela; 80x80 cm
Roma, Collezione Ventura

FILLIA, Superamento terrestre, 1930-1931
Olio su tela; 128x100 cm
Collezione Giardini

ENRICO PRAMPOLINI, Il seduttore di velocità, 1930
Olio su tela; 89x116 cm
© Musée d’Art Moderne / Roger-Viollet, Parigi, Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris