Futurism
Started: 1909
Ended: 1944
KEY ARTISTS
 | Umberto Boccioni Quick View  Artist Page |
| Umberto Boccioni |  |
| Umberto Boccioni was an Italian painter and sculptor. Like the other Futurists, his work centered on the portrayal of movement (dynamism), speed, and technology. After moving to Milan in 1907, he became acquainted with the Futurists, including the famous poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and became one of the movement's main theorists. Art Story: Umberto Boccioni Artist Page | ||
 | Giacomo Balla Quick View Further External Info  |
| Giacomo Balla | |
| Giacomo Balla was an Italian artist. Influenced by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Balla adopted the Futurist style, creating a pictorial depiction of light, movement and speed. He was signatory to the Futurist Manifesto in 1910. He also taught Umberto Boccioni. Further External Info | ||
 | Antonio Sant'Elia Quick View Artist Page |
| Antonio Sant'Elia | |
| Antonio Sant'Elia was an Italian architect during the first part of the twentieth century, and is commonly associated with the Futurist movement. Although many of his designs were never built, Sant'Elia's monolithic and monumental sketches survive and remain influential today. Art Story: Antonio Sant'Elia Artist Page | ||
 | Joseph Stella Quick View Artist Page |
| Joseph Stella | |
| Stella's images of industrial America - especially of New York City landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge are depicted with the power and honesty that were revolutionary. He was one of the founders and leaders in the Precisionism movement. Art Story: Joseph Stella Artist Page | ||
 | Gino Severini Quick View Further External Info |
| Gino Severini | |
| Gino Severini was an Italian painter and a leading member of the Futurist movement. He was associated with Neoclassicism and the Pictorial return to order in the decade after the First World War. During his career he worked in a variety of media, including mosaic and fresco. Further External Info | ||
 | Carlo Carrà Quick View Further External Info |
| Carlo Carrà | |
| Carlo Carra was an Italian painter - a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the twentieth century. In addition to his many paintings, he wrote a number of books concerning art. He taught for many years in Milan. Further External Info | ||
Summary of Futurism
Focusing on progress and modernity, the Futurists sought to sweep away traditional artistic notions and replace them with an energetic celebration of the machine age. Focus was placed on creating a unique and dynamic vision of the future and artists incorporated portrayals of urban landscapes as well as new technologies such as trains, cars, and airplanes into their depictions. Speed, violence, and the working classes were all glorified by the group as ways to advance change and their work covered a wide variety of artforms, including architecture, sculpture, literature, theatre, music, and even food.
Futurism was invented, and predominantly based, in Italy, led by the charismatic poet Marinetti. The group was at its most influential and active between 1909 and 1914 but was re-started by Marinetti after the end of the First World War. This revival attracted new artists and became known as second generation Futurism. Although most prominent in Italy, Futurist ideas were utilized by artists in Britain (informing Vorticism), the US and Japan and Futurist works were displayed all over Europe. Russian Futurism is usually considered a separate movement, although some Russian Futurists did engage with the earlier Italian movement. Futurism anticipated the aesthetics of Art Deco as well as influencing Dada and German Expressionism.
Key Ideas
An automobile accident had a transforming effect on Marinetti, who famously said, "a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace," as the then unknown writer launched Italy’s most important modern art movement.
Important Art and Artists of Futurism | |
  | The City Rises (1910)Artist: Umberto Boccioni Artwork description & Analysis: This pioneering work launched Futurism when it was exhibited in Milan in the 1911 Mostra d'arte libera (Exhibition of free art). The painting combined the brushstrokes and blurred forms of Post-Impressionism with Cubism's fractured representations. Oil on canvas - Museum of Modern Art, New York |
 | Funeral of the Anarchist Galli (1910-11)Artist: Carlo Carrà Artwork description & Analysis: This painting commemorates the funeral of Galli, an anarchist killed during strike action. Hundreds, including women and children, attended his funeral procession, which was led by a cohort of anarchists. The painting captures the moment that police mounted on horseback attacked the procession. Carrà was at the funeral and in his later autobiography wrote, "I found myself unwillingly in the centre of it, before me I saw the coffin, covered in red carnations, sway dangerously on the shoulders of the pallbearers; I saw horses go mad, sticks and lances clash, it seemed to me that the corpse could have fallen to the ground at any moment and the horses would have trampled it. Deeply struck, as soon as I got home I did a drawing of what I had seen". Oil on canvas - Museum of Modern Art, New York |
 | Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912)Artist: Giacomo Balla Artwork description & Analysis: This humorous painting shows a woman, as she walks her small black Dachshund down a city sidewalk. Cropped to an extreme close-up, the woman's feet, along with the bottom folds of her black dress, as well as the dog's feet, tail and floppy ears are multiplied and depicted in varying degrees of transparency and opacity. The fine metal leash becomes four parabolic curves connecting the woman to the dog. This repetition and replication of the moving elements creates a sense of forward motion which is in opposition to the pavement's diagonal lines. Oil on canvas - Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York |
More Futurism Artwork and Analysis:
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Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors
" Movement Overview and Analysis". [Internet]. . TheArtStory.org
Content compiled and written by The Art Story Contributors
Edited and published by The Art Story Contributors
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First published on 05 Feb 2019. Updated and modified regularly. 
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