Soffici was born into a well-to-do family whose fortune was quickly vanishing. His native village, Rignano sull'Arno, is in the midst of the beautiful hills and valleys of Florence, Tuscany. Both the lush natural setting and the rich language of central Tuscany were an influence in the works of the life-loving Soffici, who was a prolific painter, writer, and art critic. After his father's death in 1898, the resulting financial difficulties forced his family to move to Florence, where the young Ardengo began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. The poverty of these early years brought him into contact with the lower social classes, and his artistic interests led him to discover the works of artists such as Rodin and Millet.

When some of his Tuscan friends, including the artist Umberto Brunelleschi, decided to set out for Paris in 1900 in order to study European art, Soffici joined them. This period was a major turning-point in Soffici's career. Here he obtained his earliest journalistic experience, contributing to the newspapers La Plume and Europe Artiste. This work offered him the opportunity to meet the older, as well as the younger, generation of painters and writers such as Braque, Derain, Picasso, Gris and Apollinaire. As a painter, together with Braque, Picasso and Derain, Soffici showed his works at various Paris expositions, thus participating in the early phases of the fauvist and cubist movements.

After returning to Italy, Soffici contributed important and influential articles on French art to the cultural journal La Voce, including the first Italian essay to discuss the principles of Cubism. Until the outbreak of the First World War, Soffici divided his time between Paris and Florence. This resulted in him being very well informed on the artistic scenes of both France and Italy. In 1910, he organised an Impressionist exhibition in Florence, devoting an entire room to the work of Medardo Rosso.

The following year Soffici published a scathing review of a Futurist show which led him to be assaulted by the group in a Florentine café. Soffici nevertheless developed an enthusiasm for Futurism, exhibiting with the movement in 1913 and giving its art and theory prime coverage in the journal Lacerba. Although his works of this period were composed in Cubist-style constructions, they never lost their realistic aspect. While he stressed the fundamental importance of modern subject matter to Futurist painting, his own works contained curiously neutral imagery such as landscapes, still life compositions and figure studies. During his affiliation with the movement – which had run its course by the outbreak of the First World War – Soffici also experimented with Futurism’s literary principles, producing an outstanding example of avant-garde typography. While Soffici's cultural point of reference was outside Italy, his paintings and writings were always strongly linked with his Italian origin.

In 1919, Soffici devoted much of his time to writing, founding the journal, 'La Vraie Italie', with Papini, and the following year, 'Rete mediterranea'. After 1922, in the growing shadow of Fascism, Sofffici, like several other Italian intellectuals, reverted to an increasingly conservative stance, as he became concerned with national unity and social and moral balance. This is evident in his newfound reverence for Tuscan tradition, which manifested itself in the naturalistic landscapes that remained the mainstay of his art for the rest of his life. He continued to paint and write until his death in 1964. His work can be found in the Modern Art Museum Mario Rimoldi, Italy, The British Museum and the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London, UK.

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