Watermelon and Liqueurs

Soffici began his artistic studies at the School of the Nude at the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, demonstrating literary gifts from the very beginning.
Between 1900 and 1907 he was in Paris where he met and frequented the protagonists of the artistic currents of the time, achieving some success. He collaborated with the magazine “Mercure de France.” frequented by the leading intellectuals of the time, and on his return to Florence in 1907 he founded the magazine “La Voce” with Papini and Prezzolini.
In 1913 he switched, again with Papini, to the magazine “Lacerba,” which from the very first issue was characterized by a bold experimentalism and sympathy for the creative ardors of the Futurists, whom Soffici himself had approached with enthusiasm. The Futurist lesson can be found in Watermelon and Liqueurs, where the still life theme is combined with Cubist collage with writing and newspaper clippings. The work is part of the so-called “trophies” series: compositional experiments, termed cubo-futurist, that use pure, bright colors and prelude the compositions of Carrà, Rosai and Morandi.