Versari’s catalogue essay for “L’Étoffe de l’artiste (1870–1950)” at the Musée Bourdelle explores how Italian Futurist artists theorized dress as a radical artistic and political act.
Professor Maria Elena Versari contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue for “L’Étoffe de l’artiste (1870–1950),” opening at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris on September 23, 2026, and running through January 24, 2027.
Organized by the Musées de la Ville de Paris following the 2020 rediscovery of sculptor Antoine Bourdelle’s clothing, the exhibition explores how artists used dress to construct identity, perform gender, and stage their creative personae from the late 19th through the mid-20th century.
Versari’s scholarship on Futurism and fashion examines how Italian Futurist artists — from Umberto Boccioni to Giacomo Balla, Fortunato Depero, and Thayaht — theorized and practiced dress as a radical aesthetic and political intervention. Tracing the movement’s engagement with clothing from elegant provocation to utopian design, her essay compares Italian Futurism and Soviet Constructivism, exploring how both movements navigated the tensions between radical politics and commercialization in their approach to fashion and dress.