{"id":514,"date":"2015-04-28T21:51:38","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T21:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/masteryart1x6xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=514"},"modified":"2015-06-07T19:59:10","modified_gmt":"2015-06-07T19:59:10","slug":"reading-italian-futurism-an-introduction","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/mcc-artappreciation\/chapter\/reading-italian-futurism-an-introduction\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: Italian Futurism: An Introduction","rendered":"Reading: Italian Futurism: An Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_516\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"288\"]\"Umberto<\/a> Umberto Boccioni,\u00a0Unique Forms of Continuity in Space,\u00a01913 (cast 1931), bronze, 43 7\/8 x 34 7\/8 x 15 3\/4\" (MoMA)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nCan you imagine being so enthusiastic about technology that you name your daughter Propeller? Today we take most technological advances for granted, but at the turn of the last century, innovations like electricity, x-rays, radio waves, automobiles and airplanes were novel and extremely exciting. Italy lagged Britain, France, Germany, and the United States in the pace of its industrial development. Culturally speaking, the country\u2019s artistic reputation was grounded in Ancient, Renaissance and Baroque art and culture. Simply put, Italy represented the past.\r\n\r\nIn the early 1900s, a group of young and rebellious Italian writers and artists emerged determined to celebrate industrialization. They were frustrated by Italy\u2019s declining status and believed that the \u201cMachine Age\u201d would result in an entirely new world order and even a renewed consciousness. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the ringleader of this group, called the movement Futurism. Its members sought to capture the idea of modernity, the sensations and aesthetics of speed, movement, and industrial development.\r\n

A Manifesto<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_517\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"301\"]\"Umberto<\/a> Umberto Boccioni, Materia, 1912 (reworked 1913),\u00a0oil on canvas, 226 x 150 cm (Mattioli Collection loaned to Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nMarinetti launched Futurism in 1909 with the publication his \u201cFuturist manifesto\u201d on the front page of the French newspaper Le Figaro<\/em>. The manifesto set a fiery tone. In it Marinetti lashed out against cultural tradition (passatismo<\/em>, in Italian) and called for the destruction of museums, libraries, and feminism. Futurism quickly grew into an international movement and its participants issued additional manifestos for nearly every type of art: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, photography, cinema\u2014even clothing.\r\n\r\nThe Futurist painters\u2014Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carr\u00e0, Luigi Russolo, Gino Severini, and Giacomo Balla\u2014signed their first manifesto in 1910 (the last named his daughter Elica\u2014Propeller!). Futurist painting had first looked to the color and the optical experiments of the late 19th century, but in the fall of 1911, Marinetti and the Futurist painters visited the Salon d\u2019Automne in Paris and saw Cubism in person for the first time. Cubism had an immediate impact that can be seen in Boccioni\u2019s Materia<\/em> of 1912 for example. Nevertheless, the Futurists declared their work to be completely original.\r\n

Dynamism of Bodies in Motion<\/h2>\r\nThe Futurists were particularly excited by the works of late 19th-century scientist and photographer \u00c9tienne-Jules Marey, whose chronophotographic (time-based) studies depicted the mechanics of animal and human movement.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_515\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"326\"]\"Giacomo<\/a> Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912, oil on canvas, 35 1\/2 x 43 1\/4 \" (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nA precursor to cinema, Marey\u2019s innovative experiments with time-lapse photography were especially influential for Balla. In his painting Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash<\/em>, the artist playfully renders the dog's (and dog walker's) feet as continuous movements through space over time.\r\n\r\nEntranced by the idea of the \u201cdynamic,\u201d the Futurists sought to represent an object\u2019s sensations, rhythms and movements in their images, poems and manifestos. Such characteristics are beautifully expressed in Boccioni\u2019s most iconic masterpiece, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space<\/em> (see above).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_518\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"295\"]\"Nike<\/a> Nike of Samothrace, marble, c. 190 B.C.E. (Louvre, Paris)[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe choice of shiny bronze lends a mechanized quality to Boccioni's sculpture, so here is the Futurists\u2019 ideal combination of human and machine. The figure\u2019s pose is at once graceful and forceful, and despite their adamant rejection of classical arts, it is also very similar to the Nike\u00a0of Samothrace<\/em>.\r\n

Politics and War<\/h2>\r\nFuturism was one of the most politicized art movements of the twentieth century. It merged artistic and political agendas in order to propel change in Italy and across Europe. The Futurists would hold what they called serate futuriste<\/em>, or Futurist evenings, where they would recite poems and display art, while also shouting politically charged rhetoric at the audience in the hope of inciting riot. They believed that agitation and destruction would end the status quo and allow for the regeneration of a stronger, energized Italy.\r\n\r\nThese positions led the Futurists to support the coming war, and like most of the group\u2019s members, leading painter Boccioni enlisted in the army during World War I. He was trampled to death after falling from a horse during training. After the war, the members\u2019 intense nationalism led to an alliance with Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party. Although Futurism continued to develop new areas of focus (aeropittura<\/em>, for example) and attracted new members\u2014the so-called \u201csecond generation\u201d of Futurist artists\u2014the movement\u2019s strong ties to Fascism has complicated the study of this historically significant art.","rendered":"
\"Umberto<\/a><\/p>\n

Umberto Boccioni,\u00a0Unique Forms of Continuity in Space,\u00a01913 (cast 1931), bronze, 43 7\/8 x 34 7\/8 x 15 3\/4″ (MoMA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Can you imagine being so enthusiastic about technology that you name your daughter Propeller? Today we take most technological advances for granted, but at the turn of the last century, innovations like electricity, x-rays, radio waves, automobiles and airplanes were novel and extremely exciting. Italy lagged Britain, France, Germany, and the United States in the pace of its industrial development. Culturally speaking, the country\u2019s artistic reputation was grounded in Ancient, Renaissance and Baroque art and culture. Simply put, Italy represented the past.<\/p>\n

In the early 1900s, a group of young and rebellious Italian writers and artists emerged determined to celebrate industrialization. They were frustrated by Italy\u2019s declining status and believed that the \u201cMachine Age\u201d would result in an entirely new world order and even a renewed consciousness. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the ringleader of this group, called the movement Futurism. Its members sought to capture the idea of modernity, the sensations and aesthetics of speed, movement, and industrial development.<\/p>\n

A Manifesto<\/h2>\n
\"Umberto<\/a><\/p>\n

Umberto Boccioni, Materia, 1912 (reworked 1913),\u00a0oil on canvas, 226 x 150 cm (Mattioli Collection loaned to Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Marinetti launched Futurism in 1909 with the publication his \u201cFuturist manifesto\u201d on the front page of the French newspaper Le Figaro<\/em>. The manifesto set a fiery tone. In it Marinetti lashed out against cultural tradition (passatismo<\/em>, in Italian) and called for the destruction of museums, libraries, and feminism. Futurism quickly grew into an international movement and its participants issued additional manifestos for nearly every type of art: painting, sculpture, architecture, music, photography, cinema\u2014even clothing.<\/p>\n

The Futurist painters\u2014Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carr\u00e0, Luigi Russolo, Gino Severini, and Giacomo Balla\u2014signed their first manifesto in 1910 (the last named his daughter Elica\u2014Propeller!). Futurist painting had first looked to the color and the optical experiments of the late 19th century, but in the fall of 1911, Marinetti and the Futurist painters visited the Salon d\u2019Automne in Paris and saw Cubism in person for the first time. Cubism had an immediate impact that can be seen in Boccioni\u2019s Materia<\/em> of 1912 for example. Nevertheless, the Futurists declared their work to be completely original.<\/p>\n

Dynamism of Bodies in Motion<\/h2>\n

The Futurists were particularly excited by the works of late 19th-century scientist and photographer \u00c9tienne-Jules Marey, whose chronophotographic (time-based) studies depicted the mechanics of animal and human movement.<\/p>\n

\"Giacomo<\/a><\/p>\n

Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912, oil on canvas, 35 1\/2 x 43 1\/4 ” (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A precursor to cinema, Marey\u2019s innovative experiments with time-lapse photography were especially influential for Balla. In his painting Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash<\/em>, the artist playfully renders the dog’s (and dog walker’s) feet as continuous movements through space over time.<\/p>\n

Entranced by the idea of the \u201cdynamic,\u201d the Futurists sought to represent an object\u2019s sensations, rhythms and movements in their images, poems and manifestos. Such characteristics are beautifully expressed in Boccioni\u2019s most iconic masterpiece, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space<\/em> (see above).<\/p>\n

\"Nike<\/a><\/p>\n

Nike of Samothrace, marble, c. 190 B.C.E. (Louvre, Paris)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The choice of shiny bronze lends a mechanized quality to Boccioni’s sculpture, so here is the Futurists\u2019 ideal combination of human and machine. The figure\u2019s pose is at once graceful and forceful, and despite their adamant rejection of classical arts, it is also very similar to the Nike\u00a0of Samothrace<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Politics and War<\/h2>\n

Futurism was one of the most politicized art movements of the twentieth century. It merged artistic and political agendas in order to propel change in Italy and across Europe. The Futurists would hold what they called serate futuriste<\/em>, or Futurist evenings, where they would recite poems and display art, while also shouting politically charged rhetoric at the audience in the hope of inciting riot. They believed that agitation and destruction would end the status quo and allow for the regeneration of a stronger, energized Italy.<\/p>\n

These positions led the Futurists to support the coming war, and like most of the group\u2019s members, leading painter Boccioni enlisted in the army during World War I. He was trampled to death after falling from a horse during training. After the war, the members\u2019 intense nationalism led to an alliance with Benito Mussolini and his National Fascist Party. Although Futurism continued to develop new areas of focus (aeropittura<\/em>, for example) and attracted new members\u2014the so-called \u201csecond generation\u201d of Futurist artists\u2014the movement\u2019s strong ties to Fascism has complicated the study of this historically significant art.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>