Raffaele Baldi B. 1905

warm-toned, the photographer's 'Foto -- R. Baldi -- Roma' blindstamp on the image, titled, presumably by the photographer, in pencil, his 'Studio Fototecnico/Roma - V. Nomentaca, 41 (interno)/Raffaele Baldi' studio stamp and a small paper label, numbered '32' in an unidentified hand in ink, on the reverse, matted, framed, 1932

Collection of Giovanni Lista

Sotheby's New York, Italian Futurist Photographs: Property from the Collection of Giovannni Lista, 9 November 1982, Sale 4956, Lot 10

Private Collection, New York

Christie's New York, 8 April 1998, Sale 8884, Lot 228

Acquired by Nancy Richardson from the above

Rome, Biennale Internazionale d'Arte Fotografia, December 1932 -- January 1933

Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Photographie Futuriste Italienne, 1911-1939, October 1981 -- January 1982

Giovanni Lista, Photographie Futuriste Italienne, 1911-1939 (Paris 1981), pl. 14 (this print)

This photograph is on heavy double-weight paper with a warm tonality and a slightly glossy surface. It is in nearly excellent condition. When the print is examined closely in raking light, some minor indentations can be seen in the print's surface, as well as some soft creases along the top edge. Some of the photographer's original retouching can also be seen. This does not detract in a measurable way from the fine appearance of this rare photograph.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This photograph comes originally from the pre-eminent Giovanni Lista collection of Futurist photography. Lista's books, Photographie Futuriste Italienne (Paris, 1981) and Futurism and Photography (London, 2001), are the definitive works to date on the subject of Futurist photography.  Lista's personal Futurist photography collection was sold in these rooms on 9 November 1982. 

Raffaele Baldi taught himself photography as a boy, and later went into business as an architectural photographer.  He first encountered Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the mastermind and leader of the iconoclastic Futurist movement, in 1930.  Marinetti, whose Futurist Manifesto advocated, among other things, the violent destruction of older art forms to clear the way for new modes of expression, was always ready to recruit talented and visually adventurous photographers to his cause.  Aside from his forays into abstraction, of which Linear Harmonies is an example, Baldi's Futurist experiments included photomontages and the first photograms made under the banner of Futurism.  The print of Linear Harmonies offered here was one of two photographs by Baldi exhibited in the 1938 Biennale Internazionale d'Arte Fotografia exhibition.  After World War II, Baldi devoted himself to industrial photography.