Eleven Futurist Mechanical Flowers, constructed after the 1930 'Flora Futurista' drawings by 'Bot'

Osvaldo Barbieri, known as Bot was a well-known Futurist of the late 1920s and early 1930s and a counterpart of Filippo Marinetti. These fascinating models of 'mechanical flowers' were conceptualised by Bot in 1930 in his edition Flora Furturista, declaring that 'the flowers of god are not enough for us futurists'. Although never completed the named designs for these flowers were eventually executed by Gherado Frassa, for the futurist exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi in 1986. These particular examples were executed with lengthened stems to fit the owner's specifications.