(Venice, 1897 – Florence, 1974) painter, in 1912 he moved to Florence, where he frequented the studio of Emilio Notte and came into contact with the "L'Italia futurista" group. Despite his criticism of the Florentine paper's accepted spiritualist direction, in 1917 he published numerous compositions of words-in-freedom and, with Notte, the manifesto "Fondamento linea geometrico." In 1918, again with Notte, he developed a seven-point manifesto, which remained unpublished, and which, signed by Primo Conti and Achille Lega, was expected to spark a split within the Florentine Futurist group. He designed the covers for various Futurist books, including “L'isola dei baci” by B. Corra and F.T. Marinetti, “Un ventre di donna” by E. Robert-Angelini and F.T. Marinetti, “Inchiesta sulla vita italiana” by E. Settimelli, and in 1919 he participated in the Great National Futurist Exhibition at Palazzo Cova in Milan and contributed cartoons to “Roma futurista”, “La testa di ferro”, “Bleu” and “Poesia”.
In the 1920s, he opened a commercial art studio, and some of his work was published in the English magazine "Commercial Art." In the 1930s, he continued his work as a poster designer, creating numerous magazine covers. For the 7th Art Exhibition of the Interprovincial Fascist Union, he organized the Poster and Advertising Art Section in Florence, exhibiting many of his works. From 1937 to 1959, he was the art director of the magazine "Scena Illustrata," and from 1958 to 1963, he taught applied art at the Art Institute of Florence.
The Lucio Venna Landsmann Fund is divided into the following sections: Correspondence, divided into letters addressed to Venna by various correspondents (Apella, Baldessari, Bargellini, Bemporad, Ginna, Gottuso, Lega, Notte, Rosai, Sassu, and numerous others) and drafts of the artist which contribute to recreating entire correspondences, for example the one with Notte, Ginna and Apella; Manuscripts, which collects Venna's autographs and typescripts, an important reservoir of useful information for reconstructing Venna's intellectual and artistic biography and the manuscripts attributed to others, mostly attributable to the political-bureaucratic activity carried out by the artist for many years as a member of the National Federation of Artists, the PCI, the ENAPPS, the IDIT; Photo Library, divided into photos of the artist and photos of his works; Journals, including the magazines “Arte e sintesi”, “Sestante letterario”, “La soffitta” and “Scena illustrata”; Press review, which covers a broad chronological span, from 1917 to 1973; Library, a rich collection of catalogues of exhibitions in which Venna took part; Drawings, including a portrait of Venna by Raffaello Franchi, with dedication; Various, which collects material relating to the numerous exhibitions in which Venna participated (invitations, brochures, regulations, posters, entrance passes, etc.) and a significant number of private and public administrative pieces, which document his membership in the aforementioned associations (postal slips, pre-printed advertising forms, invoices, bills, membership cards, receipts).
