Archivio del '900
Cartolina di Giovanni Segantini a Vittore Grubicy, 1895 circa
Postcard from Giovanni Segantini to Vittore Grubicy, circa 1895
Claudio Parmiggiani, "Poema d'autobus", 1971
Claudio Parmiggiani, "Poema d'autobus", 1971
Pagina dal quaderno di esercizi di lingua inglese di Fortunato Depero, 1928 circa
Page from Fortunato Depero's English language exercise book, circa 1928
Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, "Continuo le mie mostre a domicilio", 1975
Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, "Continuo le mie mostre a domicilio", 1975
Progetto di Giovanni Lorenzi per un albergo a Trento, 1935-1936
Giovanni Lorenzi's project for a hotel in Trento, 1935-1936
Niki De Saint Phalle, "My Love", 1970
Niki De Saint Phalle, "My Love", 1970
Closure of the Archive and Library: From 5 January 2024, the consultation room of the Archivio del '900 and the open-shelf library will no longer be accessible due to work to expand the storage spaces. The materials placed in the repositories will however be made available every Monday in the Education Area of the Mart. To gain access, an appointment must be made by sending requests in advance to archives@mart.tn.it and to library@mart.tn.it, accompanied by a list of what you intend to consult, for a maximum of 10 items. In the event that books that are not accessible are requested, prompt notification will be given.
Mart's historical archives and library comprise the Archivio del ’900: a cultural laboratory combining exhibitions, study and research.
More than 80 book and document collections from artists, architects, critics and galleries integrate the Collections with historical documents, personal objects of the artists and unpublished materials, providing a uniquely comprehensive account of the 20th century in Italy. Novecento Italiano.
The Library specialises in 19th and 20th century art, with a focus on avant-garde movements. It holds about 1,600 periodicals and over 85,000 monographic volumes, including a rich collection of original Futurist publications, artists' books, artist's magazines and over 12,000 exhibition catalogues.
The Mart's Integrated Catalogue (CIM) is available for research in the historical archives. To search for books, articles and online resources in the specialist library, the catalogue of the Trentino Library Network (PRIMO) is also available.
Services
Consultation
Reproducing documents and publication
Service Charter
Information
Contacts
Opening times
Materials available every Monday by appointment
Explore the Archives
Activities
Exhibitions
The Historical Archives identify the documentation to be displayed alongside the works of art in the exhibition halls, plan exhibitions dedicated to the archival collections, and loan their materials for events held at other locations.
Publishing
The Archivio del '900 is the editor of a number of specialised collections of the studies concerning its holdings: Quaderni d'architettura, Documenti and Inediti, Quaderni dell'Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, and Inventari.
Insights
Holdings
When the Mart did not yet exist, the core of what would become the Archivio del '900 was already in place. In 1987, when it was established, the Museum inherited the holdings of the Galleria Permanente and Museo Depero (1957), as well as other public archives.
The heritage left to the Municipality of Rovereto by Futurist artist Fortunato Depero and later by the architect Angiolo Mazzoni included thousands of works, books and documents. This work has continued over the years and has made available to scholars an ever-increasing number of document and book collections relating to 20th century Italian art and architecture. These are extremely rich – and not fully explored – sources for the study of the historical and artistic events of the last century.
Archivio del '900 Guide
Historical Archives
The development of the archival heritage has followed a number of themes that reflect the origins of the collections and are intertwined with the library holdings:
Futurism
In the 1990s, the Mart acquired some of the most important Futurist archives: the collection of Marinetti's secretaries, the Angelini sisters; that of the journalist and cultural promoter Mino Somenzi; the papers of Gino Severini, Thayaht, Tullio Crali, Giannina Censi, Carlo Carrà, Quirino De Giorgio, Giuseppe Preziosi, Luigi Russolo and Corrado Forlin. These acquisitions led to the establishment of an international study Centre, which brought new research perspectives into the avant-garde movement.
The Futurist collection has never ceased to grow: in more recent years the archives of Mario Carli and Mario Dessy, the papers of Angelo Vignazia and Giannetto Malmerendi, and the Cherini Morpurgo Collection have been added.
Architecture
Given the Trentino roots of important figures such as Luciano Baldessari, Adalberto Libera, Ettore Sottsass sr, Gigiotti Zanini and Gino Pollini, the Mart has had a special focus on architecture from the very beginning. To these important names the Museum dedicated a parallel series of exhibitions in its historical headquarters at Palazzo delle Albere in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Archivio continued in this direction, acquiring the collections of Giovanni Lorenzi, Michelangelo Perghem Gelmi and Gian Leo Salvotti from Trento; then, over the years, it also opened its doors to exponents of 20th-century Italian architecture, including the document collections of Gaetano Ciocca, Francesco Mansutti and Gino Miozzo, Maurizio Mazzocchi, and - in more recent years - Roberto Narducci and Armando Ronca.
Art and criticism
When it was launched, the Mart already counted among its holdings a number of key archives for Italian 20th century art history: while the first collections (Carlo Belli, Silvio Branzi, and Riccardo Maroni’s archives) were acquired by Mart because of their authors' close ties with Trentino, later additions have often coincided with the museum's exhibitions (such as the Karl Plattner and Vittore Grubicy archives) and include the personal papers of artists, writers, journalists and art critics of international renown, the protagonists of 20th century art history (Mario Radice, Margherita Sarfatti, Enrico Baj, Agenore Fabbri archives).
Verbo-visual research
In 1998, with the deposit of the vast archival-library collection of the Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, the Mart extended its scope to international verbo-visual research, the successor of Futurist typographic experimentations. This paved the way for the acquisition of other archival and book collections on the experimentation with words and images. In addition to collector Tullia Denza’s holdings, these include documentation on visual poets (Stelio Maria Martini, Ugo Carrega, Mirella Bentivoglio, Lamberto Pignotti), mail artists (Betty Danon, David Cole), representatives of the creative arm of protest movements (Pablo Echaurren, Giancarlo Pavanello), and graphic designers (Leonardo Sonnoli, Piermario Ciani).
Curiosities from the Archive
Un viaggio in Sicilia
Photographs of architect Angiolo Mazzoni and "Futurism" magazine director Mino Somenzi's trip to Sicily
Audiocassette nell'Archivio di Nuova Scrittura
Audio cassettes from the Archivio di Nuova Scrittura
Un libro di casa
The household book of sisters Nina and Marietta Angelini, Marinetti's ’staunch maids'
Inviti d'artista nel Fondo Baj
Artist's invitations from the Enrico Baj Collection
Chi ha inventato la bottiglietta?
Fortunato Depero and the advertisement for Campari Soda
Uno scatto di Roma's Press Photo
A shot of Roma's Press Photo with notes for retouching from the Paolo Della Grazia Archive
Fonti per l'esoeditoria
Exo-publishing: documents on international independent art publishing
Fotografia futurista
Futurist photography and signature montages
Accademia occupata!
Occupy the Academy! The artists' protest at the 1968 Venice Biennale
La porta della morte
Giacomo Manzù's letters and the Door of the Dead project
In attesa di partire
Architecture photographs: Bardonecchia station by Roberto Narducci
La pazienza di un manichino
Sample of artist mannequins by Invi of Ortisei
Ticò hollywoodiano
Photogram of the film "Roman Holiday" from the archive of artist Alcide Ticò
Voli d'archivio
Archive flights: photograph from the collection of Futurist dancer Giannina Censi
Arti decorative vs torte
Decorative arts and cakes: cooking notes on the letter of critic Francesco Sapori
Giapponismi
Critic Vittore Grubicy's stationery with Japanese-style decorations
Foto d'architettura
Architecture photographs: the spiral staircase of the Andrea Doria Maritime Station in Genoa, by architect Luigi Vietti
The Library
The Mart's library holdings include bibliographic collections belonging to artists, architects and art critics. These artist-curated libraries are often supplemented by the documentation of the Historical Archives and constitute a unique tool for research. Many of the books bear old library locations, inserts, underlined or highlighted passages, handwritten notes and signed dedications that testify to the intellectual activity, the network of relationships, and the historical and cultural context of the author. Among the collections that are particularly significant for their role as working tools and meeting spaces are the extensive libraries of Carlo Belli and Margherita Sarfatti.
In addition to the historical book collections, there is also the expansive contemporary library: a section that originates from the book collections of Palazzo delle Albere (the historical seat of Mart in Trento) and of the Depero Museum (the current Casa d'Arte Futurista Depero). Over the years, the Archive's policy of exchange, donation and acquisition has led to an increase in this collection, which currently includes around 40,000 volumes. In addition to being the institution's internal research resource, the library has also become a point of reference for university students, researchers and specialists in the sector.
An integral part of the Library's activities is the digitisation and indexing of rare, hard-to-find or fragile documents, such as art research and criticism periodicals from the second half of the 20th century. In order to facilitate consultation (including remotely), Mart has joined a number of database projects in collaboration with universities and research bodies:
Capti
Capti is a project for the digitisation and online consultation of 20th century art journals, developed in collaboration with the Visual Arts Laboratory of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, the University of Udine and the University of Siena. The acronym stands for "contemporary art archives periodicals texts illustrations" and its objective is to analyse the diffusion of contemporary culture, exploring themes such as the relationship between 'high' and 'low' culture. Of the twenty-one digitised magazines, eighteen are kept in the Archivio di Nuova Scrittura, Enrico Baj, and Stelio Maria Martini library collections at Mart.
Consult the Capti project database
Engibank
The Engineering and Architecture Database is the bibliographic index of the Engineering Library of the University of Trento and of Mart' Library. The latter has provided access to (sometimes complete) collections of historical issues of popular Italian architecture magazines, such as "Casabella" and "Domus", as well as rarer international magazines from the historical library collections of architects.
Consult the Engibank platform
Archivio dei Possessori [Provenance Archive]
The Mart Library, together with the other conservation libraries of the Trentino Library System, participates in the census of ancient owners and ownership notes promoted by the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. The Archivio dei Possessori is a project for the collection and photographic documentation of the ownership notes of printed books and manuscripts in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana and in the participating libraries, launched in 2014. It is an archive of images, complementary to the catalogues, created with the aim of visually identifying the marks of provenance.
Consult the database
Futurist publications
Bruno Aschieri, “L'aeropoema futurista dei legionari in Spagna. Parole in libertà futuriste”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1941
Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero, “Ricostruzione futurista dell'universo”, Direzione del Movimento Futurista, Milano 1915
Piero Bellanova, “Bombardata Napoli canta. Aeropoema futurista”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1943
Paolo Buzzi, “L'esilio. Poema in prosa”, Edizioni di "Poesia", Milano 1906
Francesco Cangiullo, “Piedigrotta. Col Manifesto sulla declamazione dinamica sinottica di Marinetti”, Edizioni di "Poesia", Milano 1916
Benedetta Cappa, “Le Forze umane. Romanzo astratto con sintesi grafiche”, Franco Campitelli Editore, Foligno 1924
Carlo Carrà, “Guerra pittura. Futurismo politico, dinamismo plastico, 12 disegni guerreschi, parole in libertà”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1915
Franco Casavola, “Avviamento alla pazzia. Preparazione graduale attraverso i luoghi comuni”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1924
Enrico Cavacchioli, “Le ranocchie turchine. Col manifesto del Futurismo di F.T. Marinetti”, Edizioni di "Poesia", Milano 1909
Castrense Civello, “Aria madre. Glorificazione dell'aviazione italiana in versi liberi e parole in libertà”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1941
Gilbert Clavel, Fortunato Depero, “Un istituto per suicidi”, Bernard Lux, Roma 1917
Tullio D’Albisola, “L'anguria lirica. (Lungo poema passionale)”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia"; Lito-latta, Roma, Savona 1934
Ennio De Concini, “Aeropoesie futuriste di bombardamenti”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1941
Fortunato Depero, “Spezzature (Impressioni segni ritmi)”, Rovereto 1913
Fortunato Depero, “Depero futurista", Dinamo Azari, Milano 1927
Fortunato Depero, “Citrus: rivista mensile della Camera Agrumaria”, Messina 1928
Fortunato Depero, “Movie makers: magazine of the Amateur cinema league, inc.”, Amateur Cinema League, inc., New York 1929
Fortunato Depero, “News auto atlas: United States & Canada and metropolitan New York”, The News, New York 1930
Fortunato Depero, “Numero unico futurista Campari”, Davide Campari & C., Milano 1931
Fortunato Depero, Mario Castagneri, “New York: Film vissuto: Primo libro parolibero sonoro”, 1931
Fortunato Depero, “Saggio futurista 1932. Numero unico redatto dal pittore-poeta Fortunato Depero in occasione della venuta nel Trentino di S. E. Marinetti”, Tipografia Mercurio, Rovereto 1932
Fortunato Depero, “Dinamo futurista”, Tipografia Mercurio, Rovereto 1933
Fortunato Depero, “Liriche radiofoniche”, Morreale, Milano 1934
Fortunato Depero, “Bilancio 1913-1936”, Tipografia Romano Manfrini, Rovereto 1936
Fortunato Depero, “Festa dell’uva: Rovereto XIV: numero unico”, Tipografia Manfrini, Rovereto 1936
Fortunato Depero, “96 tavole a colori per I dopolavoro aziendali in Italia", Tipografia Manfrini, Rovereto 1938
Fortunato Depero, Riccardo Sani (ditta), “Autarchia IRR: rinnovamento del mobilio e vasto sviluppo dell'intarsio”, Autarchia IRR, Trento 1939
Fortunato Depero, “Fortunato Depero nelle opere e nella vita”, TEMI (Tipografia Editrice Mutilati e Invalidi), Trento 1940
Fortunato Depero, “So I think so I paint: ideologies of an italian self-made painter”, Casa editrice Mutilati e Invalidi, Trento 1947
Fortunato Depero, “88a mostra Depero: pittura e arte applicata 1915-1951: prima presentazione di pittura nucleare”, 1951
Fortunato Depero, “94a mostra Depero”, TEMI, Trento 1953
Fortunato Depero, “Antibiennale: requisitoria di Fortunato Depero: Venezia 1954”, Tipografia Manfrini, Rovereto 1955
Fortunato Depero, “Rinnovamento della Sala del Consiglio provinciale del maestro Fortunato Depero: Trento 1953-1956”, Provincia autonoma di Trento. Giunta, Trento 1956
Fortunato Depero, “Dizionario volante Depero: voci e significati - aneddoti e opere”, Museo storico Depero. Galleria permanente, Rovereto 1956-1957
Mario Dessy, “Vostro marito non va? ... Cambiatelo!”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1919
Farfa, “Noi miliardario della fantasia”, La Prora, Milano 1933
Luciano Folgore, “Ponti sull'Oceano. Versi liberi (lirismo sintetico) e parole in libertà”, Edizioni di "Poesia", Milano 1914
Alceo Folicaldi, “La vetrina dei chilometri”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1935
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, “Zang tumb tuuum. Adrianopoli ottobre 1912. Parole in libertà”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1914
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, “Les mots en liberté futuristes”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1919
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, “8 anime in una bomba. Romanzo esplosivo”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1919
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Tullio D’Albisola, “Parole in libertà futuriste tattili-termiche olfattive”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia"; Lito-latta, Roma; Savona 1932
Pino Masnata, “Tavole parolibere”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1932
Armando Mazza, “Firmamento. Con una spiegazione di F. T. Marinetti sulle parole in libertà”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1920
Aldo Palazzeschi, “Il codice Perelà. Romanzo futurista”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1911
Bruno Giordano Sanzin, “Infinito (parabola cosmica)”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Roma 1933
Ardengo Soffici, “Bïf§zf + 18. Simultaneità. Chimismi lirici”, Edizioni della Voce, Firenze 1915
Giuseppe Steiner, “Stati d'animo disegnati”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1923
Volt (Vincenzo Fani Ciotti), “Archi voltaici. Parole in libertà e sintesi teatrali”, Edizioni futuriste di "Poesia", Milano 1916
“Poesia. Rassegna internazionale diretta da F. T. Marinetti”, Milano 1905-1909