On February 20, 1909, a belligerent manifesto appeared on the front page of the staid Paris newspaper Le Figaro and had immediate repercussions throughout Europe. The author, a young Italian poet named F. T. Marinetti, demanded that writers and artists reject the classic art of the past and celebrate the dynamic technology of modern city life. Over the following years Marinetti and his fellow Futurists pioneered an art that represented motion, versus the stasis of the classics or even the avant-garde. Available in English for the first time in over 20 years, the Futurist Manifestos are fiery, explosive, and witty—and crucial to any full appreciation of modern art.

“Essential reading for anybody interested in early 20th-century art” (The Nation).