(Turin 1871–1958 Rome)
Fuochi d’artificio, 1916, design for an advertisement for the ballet, Feu d’artifice by Igor Stravinsky for the Costanzi Theatre, Rome, 12 April 1917, signed BALLA FUTURISTA, verso signed: FUTUR BALLA-FUOCHI ARTIFICIO, black ink on cardboard, 26 x 34.5 cm, framed, (PP)

Photo certificate:
Elena Gigli, Rome, archive no. 2009–407, Rome 26/4/2009

Provenance:
Atelier Giacomo Balla, Rome
Giovanna Pietra Collection, Milan
Conte Scott Collection, Hotel Plaza, Rome
Scotti-Pietra Collection, Monte Petriolo (Bolsena)
Private Collection, Italy

Literature:
G. Lista, Balla, ediz. Fonte d’Abisso, Modena, 1982, no. 469, page 249 with ill.

On 2 December 1916, Sergei Diaghilev, the famous impresario of the Ballets Russes, commissioned Balla for the setting for the ballet, Feu d’artifice, with music by Igor Stravinsky, to be performed at Teatro Costanzi (now Teatro dell’Opera) in Rome.
For Feu d’artifice Balla built a landscape of prismatic shapes using wood and painted canvas. The geometric shapes, covered in light cloth and illuminated from the back, stood out against a pitch-black background, hit by flashes of light in connection with Stravinsky’s harmonic notes. In lieu of the dancers, 49 different combinations of lights and shadows were used, alternating on the stage throughout the musical performance, lasting five minutes in total.
The result was a unique episode in the history of abstract avantgarde as applied to the theatre.