Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916)
“Let us fling open the figure and let it incorporate within itself whatever may surround it.”
Italian Futurist
Training: Academia di Belle Arti di Roma
w/Severini, studied under Balla; 1906 brief trip to Paris
1912 “Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture”
1913 “The Plastic Foundations of Futurist Sculpture and Painting”
Boccioni died in the war in a cavalry exercise.
Key Works:
The City Rises, 1910. [his first fully futurist painting]
Dynamism of a Cyclist, 1913.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913.
Materia, 1912-13.
Development of a Bottle in Space, sketch pub 1912, cast in bronze 1913
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, bronze, 111.44 cm (43.87 in),1913 (cast from plaster in 1931), Museo del Novecento, Milan.
Innovative as Boccioni was, he fell short of his own ambition. In 1912, he had attacked the domination of sculpture by "the blind and foolish imitation of formulas inherited from the past," and particularly by "the burdensome weight of Greece." Yet Unique Forms of Continuity in Space bears an underlying resemblance to a classical work over 2,000 years old, the Nike of Samothrace. There, however, speed is encoded in the flowing stone draperies that wash around, and in the wake of, the figure. Here the body itself is reshaped, as if the new conditions of modernity were producing a new man. (from MOMA publication excerpt)
See MOMA 2 min video on Unique Forms of Continuity; and the “visual description” audio clip below for visual analysis (3 min).
See Boccioni overview fr artstory (11 min), esp. re: inconsistencies w/futurist dictums of sculpture: [futurists banned depiction of the nude; futurist sculpture should be of straight lines and not one 1 single material (should be mixed media); and not of traditional material (marble, bronze).]
You can read/download pdfs from the catalogue: Umberto Boccioni / Ester Coen :: Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications (you want pages 259-73 re: sculpture): very good! illustrates other works fr this series (now lost), as well as the rest of his sculptural oevre
Italian Futurist
Training: Academia di Belle Arti di Roma
w/Severini, studied under Balla; 1906 brief trip to Paris
1912 “Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture”
1913 “The Plastic Foundations of Futurist Sculpture and Painting”
Boccioni died in the war in a cavalry exercise.
Key Works:
The City Rises, 1910. [his first fully futurist painting]
Dynamism of a Cyclist, 1913.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913.
Materia, 1912-13.
Development of a Bottle in Space, sketch pub 1912, cast in bronze 1913
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, bronze, 111.44 cm (43.87 in),1913 (cast from plaster in 1931), Museo del Novecento, Milan.
- The sculpture that epitomizes Futurism.
Innovative as Boccioni was, he fell short of his own ambition. In 1912, he had attacked the domination of sculpture by "the blind and foolish imitation of formulas inherited from the past," and particularly by "the burdensome weight of Greece." Yet Unique Forms of Continuity in Space bears an underlying resemblance to a classical work over 2,000 years old, the Nike of Samothrace. There, however, speed is encoded in the flowing stone draperies that wash around, and in the wake of, the figure. Here the body itself is reshaped, as if the new conditions of modernity were producing a new man. (from MOMA publication excerpt)
- symbolizes the modern machine age
- captures the dynamism of movement
- a superhuman figure striding purposefully through space, but bound to architectonic base. consider the relationship to Nietzsche’s “superman.”
- art historian Marianne Martin suggests association with Marinetti’s mechanical superman “built to withstand omnipresent speed. He will be endowed with unexpected organs adapted to the exigencies of continuous shocks...” One of these organs was a “prow-like development of the projection of the breastbone which will increase in size as the future man become a better flyer”. e.g. the curved cruciform projection jutting out from the head of the sculpture.
- originally cast in plaster, bronze casting after artist’s death
- on the Italian 20 cent euro coin
- compare to Development of a Bottle in Space, sketch pub 1912, cast in bronze 1913.
- one of 4 in series of striding figures (others lost), this is the most fully developed
- compare to Winged Victory c200BC, Rodin Walking Man 1900, Niccolo Dell’Arco Lamentation (far right figure), c1485-90.
- influence of Medardo Rosso (Impressions of the Blvd) & Cubists (exhibition 1911)
- influence of Etienne-Jules Marey’s chronophotography studies depicting mechanics of movement
- “A roaring motorcar...is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace!” - Marinetti
See MOMA 2 min video on Unique Forms of Continuity; and the “visual description” audio clip below for visual analysis (3 min).
See Boccioni overview fr artstory (11 min), esp. re: inconsistencies w/futurist dictums of sculpture: [futurists banned depiction of the nude; futurist sculpture should be of straight lines and not one 1 single material (should be mixed media); and not of traditional material (marble, bronze).]
You can read/download pdfs from the catalogue: Umberto Boccioni / Ester Coen :: Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications (you want pages 259-73 re: sculpture): very good! illustrates other works fr this series (now lost), as well as the rest of his sculptural oevre
Futurism: Italy 1909-1918
the most important Italian avant-garde art movement of the 20th century
Key Figures: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944), Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916),
also: Giacomo Balla (1871-1958), Gino Severini (1883-1966), Carlo Carra (1881-1966)
Introduced: Marinetti published the Futurist Manifesto, “Le Figaro” Feb. 20, 1909
Philosophy: Pro-war, pro-industry and pro-machine age
Characteristics: dynamism, movement, and speed; modernism, industry
Influences: Cubism, modern technology, Etienne-Jules Marey chronophotography (time-based studies depicting mechanics of movement)
Key Works:
Boccioni, The City Rises, 1910.
Carra, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli, 1911.
Balla Dynamism of Dog on a Leash & Rhythm of Violinist,1912.
Severini, Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal Tabarin, 1912.
Boccioni, Dynamism of a Cyclist, 1913.
Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913.
Trivia: Giacomo Balla named his daughter Propeller(!)
Legacy: Futurism influenced many other 20c art movements, including Cubo-Futurism, Art Deco, Constructivism, Surrealism & Dada. also Precisionism, Rayonism, Vorticism.
Futurism overview from artstory
Key Figures: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944), Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916),
also: Giacomo Balla (1871-1958), Gino Severini (1883-1966), Carlo Carra (1881-1966)
Introduced: Marinetti published the Futurist Manifesto, “Le Figaro” Feb. 20, 1909
Philosophy: Pro-war, pro-industry and pro-machine age
- Futurists believed that art & literature must make a giant lap forward to the future and reject prior influence because the past styles were too “romantic”, “sentimental”, and “feminine”.
- Futurists wanted a social and political revolution, however they didn’t foresee the tragedy that modern technology would bring to war.
Characteristics: dynamism, movement, and speed; modernism, industry
Influences: Cubism, modern technology, Etienne-Jules Marey chronophotography (time-based studies depicting mechanics of movement)
Key Works:
Boccioni, The City Rises, 1910.
Carra, Funeral of the Anarchist Galli, 1911.
Balla Dynamism of Dog on a Leash & Rhythm of Violinist,1912.
Severini, Dynamic Hieroglyphic of the Bal Tabarin, 1912.
Boccioni, Dynamism of a Cyclist, 1913.
Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913.
Trivia: Giacomo Balla named his daughter Propeller(!)
Legacy: Futurism influenced many other 20c art movements, including Cubo-Futurism, Art Deco, Constructivism, Surrealism & Dada. also Precisionism, Rayonism, Vorticism.
Futurism overview from artstory