Futurism

Filippo Marinetti

Movement started by Filippo Marinetti an Italian poet who in 1909 published on the front page of France's Le Figaro. The founding and manifesto of Futurism. 

It was a glorification of speed, technology and war!

It wasn't until 1911 that the distinctive futurist style emerged and then it was a product of Cubist influence. Futurist wanted to bring not only modern art to life but to create and evoke all the senses such as smell, noise and heat etc...

They were fascinated with the machinery, speed, violence and change.. Thus them celebrating the glory of the first world war in all its magnitude!

After founding the Futurist Political Party in 1918 Marinetti was also one of the first members of Mussolini's National Fascist Party.

 Some key artists include :- Umberto Bacccioni, Giacomo Balla and Gino Severini.

Russia did embrace the Futurist movement and artists like Kazimir Malevich a Russian modernist painter who created a painting called the black square.  Other Russian artist include Lyubov Popova and David Burliuk.  Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote futurist literature and poetry and was a member of the movement.

Futurist were really a law into they own hands and felt the wealthy could lead the way and change power and following. Also they wanted to forget the old Italian art and embrace a new more powerful Italy. Taking back power and glory from other European countries like France for instance.. Hence the publication on the front page of one of Frances biggest papers.

By 1920 the movement was fading out however may could argue that the movement inspired the modernist style of Art Deco..

The City Rises (1910)

Artist: Umberto Boccioni

The City Rises is often considered to be the first Futurist painting. Here, Boccioni illustrates the construction of a modern city. The chaos and movement in the piece resemble a war scene as indeed war was presented in the Futurist Manifesto as the only means toward cultural progress. The large horse races into the foreground while several workers struggle to gain control, indicating tension between human and animal. The horse and figures are blurred, communicating rapid movement while other elements, such as the buildings in the background, are rendered more realistically. At the same time, the perspective teeters dramatically in different sections of the painting. The work shows influences of Cubism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism, revealed in the brushstrokes and fractured representation of space.