Edith Arnaldi A ‘woman of the future’ found in Alinari Archives By Linda Falcone Edith Arnaldi – celebrated in Futurist circles as Rosa Rosà – was a Futurist painter, writer, illustrator and ceramicist, yet few know that she was also a dedicated photographer, whose largely undiscovered oeuvre – comprising negatives, glass slides and prints – is 10,000 works strong. Florence-based German researcher Lisa Hanstein, who has studied Arnaldi over the course of two decades, only recently discovered the artist’s ‘photographic vein’, thanks to her copious archive at Florence’s Alinari Foundation for Photography. As contributor to the short-lived Florence journal Italia Futurista, Arnaldi (1884-1978) stood at the forefront of early feminism in Italy, generating debate among her contemporaries, authoring essays such as ‘Women of the Future’ and ‘Women Are Finally Changing’, in which she analysed and advocated for new, anti-bourgeois roles for women, an issue made even more relevant once a whole generation of men left for the front, to fight the Great War. WOMEN IN THE ROUND “Over the last few years, my studies on Edith Arnaldi have focused on her interest in the invisible – her portrayal of moods and states of mind. Despite Arnaldi being a prolific artist, almost none of her paintings and ceramic works have survived or been traced, therefore, to find such a large photographic oeuvre in Florence is exciting. It is also a revelation to find that much of Arnaldi’s photography captures fleeting moments in the lives of women. They are pensive or enthusiastic; they are engrossed in their work… and most importantly, they are represented as individuals,” says Dr. Hanstein. “The visual arts in Arnaldi’s time followed trends advocated by Istituto LUCE – the Union for Education Cinema – a major media-arm of the Fascist regime, which strove to represent certain typecast characters, and well-established stereotypes. Although Arnaldi’s photography in the thirties and forties portrays rural living in Italy’s hillside towns, which include glimpses of traditional festivals and ageold customs, you get a sense that the people her camera captures are never flat characters – they are real, multi-faceted people, as in her Ciociaria works. The ‘Water-bearer’, whom she photographed over the course of several years, is representative of her sensibility.” Right: At Edith’s villa, 1951, Edith Arnaldi, Alinari Archives, Florence. 18 Restoration Conversations • <strong>Autumn</strong> / <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2022</strong>
<strong>Autumn</strong> / <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2022</strong> • Restoration Conversations 19
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