FUTURISM
History of the Futurist Art Movement
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Contents 1. Introduction 2. Background Social, Political and Cultural
3. Futurism Key Players Manifesto
4. Art Paintings Sculpture
5. Architecture New City
6. Graphics and Typography 7. Film and Performance 8. Suprematism and Vortism
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C ntents O
1. Introduction 2. Background Social, Political and Cultural
3. Futurism Key Players Manifesto
4. Art Paintings Sculpture
5. Architecture New City
6. Graphics and Typography 7. Film and Performance 8. Suprematism and Vortism
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Dog on Leash, Giacomo Balla, 1913
The Riot in Galleria 1910 was deliberately Diversionist. The lights and the rush of figures moving inwards are the devices for the Manifesto. It gives the illusion of placing the observer in the centre of the picture. Comparing these paintings. Carra confined himself to the rather less intense sensations creating pieces such as City Streets and his Leaving the Theatre. In Leaving the Theatre the idea of the muffled figures tilting away from the centre of the piece gives the audience sensations of being in the middle of the dispersing crowd. The blurred effect gives the sense of movement, fleeting away in which adds to the effect of putting yourself in the painting. In contrast to this, Russolo was the first of the group to use precise images from the Manifesto in his work. His Memories of the Night (painted early 1911) was an unwieldy picture of sorts, though it was the first real attempt for putting 4
Umberto Boccioni The City Rises 1910
Going into the art work of Futurism, starting from the beginning, Futurist paintings were focused on abstract expressionism, as it was the height of Italian artists, due to works of the Milanese painters. It focused primarily with the expression of emotion. Boccioni adapted to this style, which is shown in works such as Mouring. Similar to this in a sense that the technique is based more on Divionism rather than ‘Futurist’ is Russolo’s Perfume and Carra’s Nocturne in the Piazza Beccaria. Soon after this phase, Futurist paintings caught on to the influence of Balla and paid attention to social themes, both in terms of the tensions, disruptions and riots of the time of social upheaval in Italy. For example Umberto Boccioni riot in the Galleria 1910 and The City Rises were his attempt at a great synthesis of labour, light and movement. 5
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Dog on Leash, Giacomo Balla, 1913
the ideas of the Technical Manifesto into practice. The images were superimposed on one another and he uses a ‘psychological perspective’ encouraged by Ardengo Soffici. From this Futurists introduced their art movement to France with their impact on Cubism, later to become Cubo-Futurisum. Seen in the Umberto Boccioni painting Dynamism Of The Football Player and State of Mind. It displays the combination of both styles by transforming rigid and stable, to energetic, dynamic power. This conflict of both styles is also visualized in Boccioni’s Materia (Matter) and Carlo Carra’s Simultaneity. They both show how their style was affected an altered by Cubism, showing the search to find a balanced combination that works for them. The first fruits of Futurist painting were seen at the enormous Free Exhibition in Milan in April 1911 as mentioned in Chapter 7 Pg. 2. Umberto Boccioni exhibited a series of paintings called the ‘State of Mind; Those Farewells, Those Who Stay and Those Who Go.’ The notion of ‘State of Mind’ like ‘Universal Dynamism’ was shared among the Futurist painters. They were an ambitious attempt to shake of dependence on descriptive reality and to capture the essence of emotion by forcing ‘colours and forms … to express themselves’. 7