your deplorable Ruskin, whom I
intend to make utterly ridiculous in
your eyes ... With his sick dream of a
primitive pastoral life, with his
hatred of the machine, of steam and
electricity, this maniac for antique
simplicity resembles a man who, in
full maturity, wants to sleep in his
cot again and drink at the breasts of
a nurse now grown old.
from 'Un Discours Futuriste aux Anglais', a lecture F T Marinetti delivered in London, 1910.
Ned said:Did a bit of library research today and I discovered the story was misreported. Actually it happened to this war correspondent and ex-soldier called Captain Francis McCullagh, who'd given a lecture criticising Italy's recent military conduct. It was nothing to do with any art exhibition, except that the Futurism thing in London meant Marinetti was in the right place to go and see McCullagh. Also, no one actually got beaten up, Marinetti just challenged McCullagh to a duel and McCullagh refused. Still a good story though.