FUTURISM (c. 1909 - 1944)

by Jo Colley 04:49 0 comments

Operating around the Manifesto of Futurism (1909) as written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti which set forth the underlying principles - a rejection of history, a passion for speed, movement and dynamism, a love for the industry and machinery of the technological age. The Futurists are known for their rejection of art critics and the Apollonian terms of "good taste" and "harmony". Key artists of this period include Giacomo Balla (1871-1958), Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) and Tullio Crali (1910-2000).

Among other disciplines, typography and graphic design started to gain prominence in Italy at this time, FT Marinetti's graphic typography was inventive, abandoning classic structure, grammar and punctuation in favour of aesthetic detailing, an example being his sound poem book "Zang Tumb Tumb" which develops the shaping and geometry of font design, the distortion and abstraction of text.

"Depero The Futurist" by Fortunato Depero (1913-1927) Book bound by two bolts.

Fortunato Depero's "Depero The Futurist" emphasises the importance of bold, structure like typography to Futurists. It also shows how influential Futurism has been on the fonts used in the 21st Century.

The Futurist Manifesto did not only dictate the style of the movement, but the ideals that it's contributing artists' supported - a fascist idealogy. It also celebrates a a rejection of previously upheld values. For instance, Umberto Boccion wrote "We rebel against that spineless worshipping of old canvases, old statues and old bric-a-brac, against everything that is filthy and worm-ridden and corroded by time." before going on to claim, "We consider the habitual contempt for everything which is young, new and burning with life to be unjust and even criminal." Ultimately, this meant that Futurism was a true rejection of past ideas; the classic thoughts on taste and aesthetics, the reverence that upheld traditional painting and the society which made this a popular standard.

Umberto Boccioni's "Elasticity" (1912) Oil on Canvas, 38 by 39 inches.

Italian painter, Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) was a pioneer of this movement; wishing for his work to extend beyond the canvas in terms of it's representation of energy and movement. Elasticity is an artwork that uses his developed techniques to display this energy through a horse and it's rider, fragmented almost to the point of abstraction - we understand little about the image but it's sharp angles and shapes. With deep colours, the image exhibits a new age of energy and movement serving to make the horse-rider appear to be mechanized. This is a common trait of Boccioni's paintings, a familiar characteristic, as the artist claims "the figure must be broken up and enclosed in environment."

Giacomo Balla (1871-1958) is another artist that depicts the mechanical age in his art as well as an idealistic view of this era in Italian and European history. In the painting below, Speed of a Motorcycle he abstracts the movement of bicycle wheel spokes where the repetition of the wheel's rotation is the primary focus - with spirals and curves depicting once again a mechanical motion. This is furthered by the use of sepia tones in contrast with Boccioni's use of deep tones, while Balla opts to use colours that resonate with the theme of industry. For this reason, Balla's work is indicative of the ongoing themes of Futurism as an art movement.

"Speed of a Motorcycle" by Giacomo Balla (Italian 1871 - 1958), 1913.

Futurism is always playing with perspective and fragmentation of an image for a sense of abstraction that lies with this idea of motion and dynamism that they want to celebrate, to the extent at which this pandered to the propaganda of the time - the focus on manufacturing and furthering of technology. This is implied in Fedele Azari's Perspectives in Flight (1926). This image paints the Italian skyline in a way that we are not familiar with, with a utopian-like quality - a tilted perspective and abstract colours, representing their new world the 1920's being a time of innovation.

"Perspective in Flight" by Fedele Azari, 1926, using Oil on Canvas at 120 by 80 cm.

Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) was a Polish-American artist that worked in a slightly different manner to her contemporaries, applying some of the Futurist styles and techniques to her own skills in portraiture. For instance Self Portrait (1925) is a painting that is focused on the artist herself, but still maintains elements of sharp angles, deep colours and the illusion of movement. However, Tullio Crali (1910-2000) takes a different approach at depicting the mechanisation of Italy, as if from the perspective of the pilot of an aircraft, the title is Nosedive over the City which was painted in conjuction with the Futurist fascination with transport, but taking shape towards the end of the movement in 1939.

Tullio Crali's "Nosedive Over The City" 1939, Oil on Plywood, 120 by 140 cm.

Conclusively, Futurism was the art movement that depicted the hope for a new age in Italy before Europe's descent into World War II. But before it's end, Futurism had become a symbol of propaganda, the artists involved were seen to be glorifying the prospect of war with targeted imagery. This was only fuelled by the prominence of the relationship between Italy and Germany and their leaders, Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, respectively. Marinetti wrote in the Manifesto of 1910, "We will glorify war - the world's only hygiene - militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers." This hinted towards a future allegiance that aligned the Futurist artist on the side of this new ideal - Fascism. This would eventually become the downfall for artists such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla and Tullio Crali as the art movement drew to a close.