Autumn/Winter 2022

Futurist women appear to have taken this
contempt, in stride, and perhaps interpreted it as
a contempt for the limited nature of traditional
female roles. In fact, they shared his disdain
for both the Angel of the Hearth and Femme
Fatale. “Although Arnaldi was a resident of Rome,
she presumably had contact with her female
counterparts living in both Rome and Florence…
Mina Loy, Irma Valeria, Maria Ginanni and Fulvia
Giuliani, and their debate on the role of the New
Woman, was an important one, but we have to
remember, they did not all agree on what ‘la
nuova donna’ meant, or how the change should
play out exactly. They simply shared the need for
a new image.”
Edith Arnaldi, you might say, was a woman of
two names and many souls – at least three – as
the title of her novel A Woman with Three Souls
appears to suggest. Authored in 1918, her novel is
an early example of feminist science fiction, and
considered a tit-for-tat reaction to Marinetti’s only
successful book, How to Seduce Women, printed
in 1916. According to Arnaldi, she did not consider
herself a feminist but as ‘–ist’, hence, she says, ‘the
first part of the word has not yet been found’”. Dr
Lisa Hanstein, for one, is still searching for the
word… or words… that will make a perfect fit. RC
For more on the Digital Archive on Futurism in Florence at the
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut: http://
futurismus.khi.fi.it/index.php?id=100&L=1
Above, left: Geometric conflagration, 1917, L’Italia futurista, Edith Arnaldi (von Haynau or Rosa Rosà),
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz.
Above, right: Dancer, 1921, Edith Arnaldi (von Haynau or Rosa Rosà), Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz.
Above: Display case featuring Edith Arnaldi’s gelatin silver prints with notes (1936) Alinari Archives,
Florence, (Image: Olga Makarowa).
22 Restoration Conversations • Autumn / Winter 2022