SOURCE: "Futurism and the Development of Vorticism," in Studio International, Vol. 173, No. 888, April, 1967, pp. 173-5, 177.

In the following essay, Lipke documents the impact of Italian Futurism on Vorticist painting.

The events which marked the Futurist 'invasion' of English soil from 1911 through the summer of 1914 are as intriguing as they are complex, forming part of the history of the Vorticist movement, culminating in the final yet half-hearted repudiation of Futurism by the British avant-garde.

I

As early as 1911, Marinetti had come to lecture before the Lyceum Club. His delivery was well-timed and to the point. 'Don't you believe fervently,' he exclaimed, 'that the Puritans saved England, and that Chastity is the most important virtue?' Then, launching into his protest viva voce, Marinetti chided his audience for praising Ruskin, who 'with his hate of the machine, of gas, and electricity, is responsible for the odious cult of the...