Painter, writer, and composer Primo Conti was born in Florence on 16 October 1900. A precocious Futurist, by age 13 Conti published musical compositions and exhibited paintings with Umberto Boccioni and Ardengo Soffici.
By age 17 Conti had made numerous contributions to L’Italia futurista, of which he became editor before being drafted in 1918. After World War I, Conti’s literary interests were reflected in his periodicals Il centone (1919) and L’enciclopedia(1920-23). Family life, with marriage in 1931 followed by the birth of two daughters, inspired a number of works rich in personal and poetic content:
Official recognition in the later 1930s culminated in a professorship (1941) at the Florentine Accademia di Belle Arti. Long before it enjoyed a popular resurgence, Conti revisited Futurism. In 1979 Conti established the Centro Documentario avanguardie Storiche, Fondazione Primo Conti in Fiesole to house his collection and archive of the Italian avant-garde.
He died in Fiesole on 12 November 1988. He rests in the chapel located in the park of the Foundation, beside his wife Munda Cripps (1913- 2003).
Reference: Matthew Gale. “Conti, Primo.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T019229.
Autoritratto, 1949. Fondazione Primo Conti.
Bagnante, 1923. Fondazione Primo Conti.
Donna su vaso, 1917. Fondazione Primo Conti.
La modellina, 1935. Fondazione Primo Conti.
Senza titolo, 1970. Fondazione Primo Conti.
Further Reading: Italo Mussa and Gabriel Millet. Primo Conti: opere recenti. Florence: Centro Tornabuoni Galleria D’Arte Moderna Internazionale, 1983.
I have a lithograph that is signed only as “Conti” that is entitled “in touch”. In the center of the lithograph is a handwritten poem of D.H. Lawrence. I’m wondering if there is another artist named Conti, or if there is a reference to view all Primo Conti’s lithographs I would be grateful to know. My lithograph is black and hot pink. Sincerest thanks in advance
Sherry Arena Bobrowsky
Hi Sherry! Thanks for contacting IAS. I’ll leave the comment open so that anyone with particular knowledge on this subject can reply using the thread.