BRAVE NEW WORLD - ITALIAN FUTURISTS
How did they use technology?
- 'Abstract speed - the car has passed' - A motorcar from 1910
What did they believe renaissance paintings did?
- only captured one moment in time - that renaissance was out of date
What do they focus on in their paintings?
- simultaneity - cubists focus on viewpoints futurism more looking at several moments depicted in one frame
'Simultaneous visions' (1912) Boccioni *
The city; Buildings, street, two faces, a tram, lots of people, some trees · Looking down on the city · We are onto of everything - birds eye view · Buildings get bigger as they come towards us · On of the windows on the balcony looking down into the city · At the view of the city · One person - looking two ways · Perhaps it could be her reflection - looking out onto the city and this is her reflection · Blue - the railings of the balcony · Not an accurate portrayal which shows the movement · Lots of lots of people in the modern city - been reduced to colours · Vivid colour provides excitement and draws us into the city as if we are part of the city · Multiple views · They tend to overlap and intersect one another · The tram and the women · She is now part of the city - she is now a moving part of the city She is moving within this space - chaotic and mens of busyness though warped focus - sense of facetation - fusing innovative subject matter from city with an exciting new artistic angle - buildings described by facetation by movement, composition and speed - sensation of being in the city - captures the impact of modern city (sight/ noise) - cubist geometric trees birds eye view contrasted composition provide multiple perspectives = cubism
What did Boccioni say in the Manifesto of futurist sculpture?
"Let us proclaim the absolute and final discarding of the finite line and of the closed form statue. Let us tear the body open and let us include its surroundings in it"
What did Boccioni say about the body in the manifesto of futurist sculpture?
"Let us proclaim the absoluteand final discarding of the finite line ad of the closed from statue. Let us tear the body open and let us include its surroundings in it"
What did Marinetti say about the victory of Samothraki?
"The hood of a car is more beautiful than this"
What did Boccioni say about the human figure in the technical manifesto of futurist painters (1910)?
"To paint a human figure you must not paint it; you must render the whole of its surrounding space"
What did Boccioni say about the human figure? - technical manifesto 1910
"To paint a human figure you must not paint it; you must render the whole of surrounding space"
What was said in their first manifesto?
"We launch from Italy into the world this our manifesto of overwhelming and incendiary violence"
What did the futurist painting technical manifesto say in 1910?
"a running horse has not four legs, but 20, and their movements are triangular"
What painting were under the theme of revolution?
- 'Gun in action' - 'The revolt' - 'Funeral of the Anarchist Galli'
'The city rises' (1910-11), Boccioni *
- 5 people surrounding a horse · Trying to contain it - seems to be full of energy and force - pulling building materials to build city of Milan urbanisation · More horses in the background with men - men with work · They are pulling the materials for the building of the city · Buildings in the background with scaffolding - construction (chimneys) · The city is physically rising · Shape · Diagonal - movement · Vibrant colour, dynamic movement, war industry, urban dynamism · The red is overpowering (violence) · Suggests morning - the sun is rising · It could also be called 'The sun rising' - start of a new day Strain and the force which is been exerted on this horse - bright synthetic - electric light - street lighting modern innovations - impasto was a look to cubism
'Flight of the Swallows' (1913), Balla *
- A flock of swallows swirl and dive outside the artist's window - Balla has recreated their speed and movement by placing them in precise sequence, one after another. - He appears to have included the rigidity of the shutters to contrast their motionlessness with the birds' continuous movement. - lines of force suggest movement and speed shadow of that movement - line mimic tyre marks sketching iwht bar canvas, painted rapidly repetition of movement sound of motorbike (sound waves vibrations echo on the canvas) suggested by the line - circular movement of wheels - colour = cubism muted focused on form - think acceleration ou get with technology "we suddenly heard the famished roar of automobiles" - make out really technically advance however car are still not displaying that
Futurist architecture?
- Antionio Sant'Elia - No futurist buildings built - He lived from 188-1916 - Manifesto fo futurist architecture by Antonio Sant' Elia - Between 1912-14 he exhibited these plans for the new city - "la Citta Nuova"
What did a futurist painting look like?
- Colour palette - bright vivid colours - Nice composition - Fauvism & Matisse- non descriptive colours Gauguin & Fauves - flat broad colour
'Dynamism of a dog on a leash' (1912), Balla *
- Dachshund · Legs, tail, ears - constant movement · Dash, shadowed lines · Almost like memories of what was there · Lack of definite outline - short flecked brushstrokes allude to the captured moment in time Balla has translated onto the page · The lead is almost like a skipping rope · More about the speed and therefore capturing this - art capture a movement futurist capture and present energy "A running horse has not four legs, but twenty, and their movements are triangular" - technical manifesto
'Caricature of a Futurist Evening' (1911), Boccioni
- Dancing and music with band playing - Paintings in the backgrounds - seem to be pointing to them - A lot of movement portrayed - They are the futurists - conducting the band - Standing on people - Symbolic of their views to crush what has come before and move on - People are lacking detail, stamping the past, the hate the past - Stamping out what has come before - Sound and movement lines - Sense of chaos - Crowd members look distressed - aren't happy - outraged - shouty - The futurist are been purposefully antagonistic - Like the fact that the crowd do not like them - Idea of music - Opera d'arte totale - Also using words as a form of art - Violent to the past - Intriguing - Create this excitement around themselves - People do not like that they think the war is hygienic - Purposefully antagonistic - Idea of destroying Italy's past They do not care about offending people - opera d'arte totale - total change and art work, change in all life and art
What did they believe?
- Italian history and culture - italy was so heavily associated with their incredible past of the renaissance and this was weighing them down - they wanted to free Italy from the weight of their past with museums (proposed the destruction of museums and libraries) - they wanted people to instead embrace machine age of industry, technology, cars and factory and speed
'Night at Piazza Beccaria, Mila' (1910) Carra
- Milan - industrializes, growing, modernizing city where the futurists were based - Colour - bright, vivid, looks active - Los of people moving fast in the foregrounds - Textured paint - shows motion - Colour creates excitement - It is not finished - it is not smooth - The way he has painted it seems extremely rapid - Buildings in the background - industrialization has hit Italy - Some form of transport - Electric lighting - bright yellow Vivid colour shows the electricity with modern street lighting
'Funeral of the Anarchist Galli' (1910-11), carra *
- Movement is suggested - Energy and violence Horse has several back legs which suggests movement - this is about social unrest - 1904 Milan - there was a social uprising (strike) - as part of this one of the strikers (Galli) was killed - he is celebrating the revolt of Galli's funeral - Red hands - sky is blood read which is a bad omen - Modern city in Milan is suggested by the crane in the background - revolution comes with the modern city - symbol of danger - red sun - coffin red, bloody, death centre of all emotion - no order or central focal point - black suggests mourning
'The electric light' (1910-11) Balla
- Simply focused on the electric light - Not a traditional subject matter - The sm itself is modern - Knows how it affects the people -Lots of different colours - Closer to the light brighter the colours are - Yellows, oranges - as it radiates outwards the colours get darker through purple - Knowledge of the spectrum of light is one of the scientific discoveries that is becoming more apparent - Showing he knows the science behind the light - The moon - The new innovation of electricity is outshining the moon - overtaken and more powerful Science and technology
When did they publish their first manifesto?
- about their aims and intentions - in 1876-1944
What influence did they take?
- cubism - in their art work they do take influence from others - not primarily their now new work
What was their manifesto?
- first manifesto was produced in Le Figaro (newspaper_ - It was written in 1909
Why did it end?
- the rhetoric of war was not popular - because war had become a reality - Boccioni died and sant Elia also died
How were they different to any other movement?
- they names themselves the futurists - the manifesto was written before any art was produced
how did they use photography?
- used photos to show movement accurately - using chronophotographic gun - instead of bullets it has a film in it - It would capture 12 photos in one shot - The lines which show the movement of the fencer - it is all captured in a memory print - lines of force - They wanted to know how horses run - all 4 legs off the ground ('Horses in Motion' (1886) Eadwear Muybrige) - his sequential photographs of a galloping horse inspired the movement patterns of other objects to display their dynamism - stop motion photography allowed people to observe the world more accurately 1880s photography coming into its own - they put this modern technology into painting
What were their manifestos characterised by?
- violent beliefs and language - attacked the past glorifying obsessed with war fighting with machines, moving forward and change - destruction - wars wipe out heritage, history and culture - they believed humans were moving at a faster speed (speed was a novelty thing) - they believed motion is defining things in technology
Who were the members?
1. Marinetti 2. Boccioni 3. Carra 4. Severini (greatest cubist influence in his style) 5. Balla 6. Russolo (musician and artist)
'The mud bath' (1914) Bomberg
Could futurism survive the WW1 · Their message would become unpopular · They glorify social revolution and war which is unpopular · The main futurists die so they cant survive the war · Nevinsons pre war paintings heroizes war and makes people look like mahcines - sense of movement and power - vibrant colour palette celebrating war to something that realistically depicts war Because BOCCIONI died we cannot see how his work changed but we can look to Nevinson
Who were they?
Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasised speed, technology, youth, violence and objects such as the car, airoplane and industrial city. - they were the only art movement to come out of Italy in the 20th century - self determining group (came up with their name)
'Those who go' (1911) Boccioni *
Influence of cubism - after he sees cubism · Geometric shapes · Yellow - buildings · Portrayal of the city · They facacited the works - cutting it up from different angles · People are in on the train - carriage numbers · He has not completely abanded what he has done before - he has added a cubist asethic They are not completely new - take influence from a lot of people
'Unique forms of continuity in space' (1913) Boccioni *
Striding forward · Missing arms and head is very angular and simplified · Legs are very exaggerated to be big · Head looks like · It is a nude · Looks like they are wearing a helmet and body armour · Originally made in plaster - bronze · Shape and subject matter links to the futurists as they are striding into the future · Forceful and aggressive · Subject matter is classical and traditional · Victory of Samothraki - "the hood of a car is more beautiful than this" - Marnetti said this in their manifesto Question the validity of their claims because they said they were going to destroy Venice and museums but they made this which was a nude - using the materials to reject the past - Nietzsche "there will be a superman that takes the human race forward"
What characterises their style?
reflects obsession with modernity and modern innovations electricity, cars and x-rays. New science of movement - too fast for the human eye painting wrong for centuries e.g. horses run - intrested in depicting speed. Layers of overlapping translucent form to depict motion. Capturing the dynamism Influence of photography - subject matter more innovative than their style which is the opposite to cubists - lots of lighting (street lighting 19th century phenomenon) dominating subject matter
A motorcar from 1910
§ Death § Bests suggests death - they are untameable § 'roar' - something which is aggressive and dangerous Car is seductive and attractive
'Matter' 1912 Boccioni
§ Prime sculptor of the futurists § Person is sat down on a balcony § Geometric simplified (cubist) buildings Influence of cubism - they are moving and so we are never still and the exterior is intercepting her body
'Abstract speed - the car has passed' 1913 Balla
§ Road going into distance § Flickering landscape § Lines of force suggest the movement Portrays speed and sound
What did the manifesto of the futurist music by Russolo outline (1913)
· "The evolution of music is parallel to the multiplication of machines ... the evolution towards 'noise-sound' was not possible before now. The ear of an 18th century man could never have supported the dissonant intensity of certain cords produced by our orchestras.. our ear instead takes pleasure in it, since it has already been trained by modern life, so teeming in different noises" · Type of music he is producing is very specific to the modern age because only modern people are trained to listen to it 6 Types of sounds in his Manifesto - Roars and booms, screeching, whistling, whispers, noiseless beating on wooden metal, noises of people and animals
What did Marinetti (1876-1944) want to do?
· "We want to rid this land from the fetid cancer of professors, archaeologists, guides and antiquarians!" - Marinetti, The futurist manifesto (1909) · He wanted to release poetry from what it traditionally is · His manifesto was all about speed, aggression, · He is antagonistic in his vocabulary Modern innovation
What were the reactions to the futurist exhibition in feb Paris 1912?
· Apollinaire (French poet and art critic) criticised futurism - "The originality of the futurist school of painting is that it wants to reproduce movement. That is a perfect legitimate subject of investigation, but French painters solved that problem, insofar as it can be solved, simply ages ago" Duchamp shows movement in 'Nude descending a staircase no2' 1912
'Those who leave' (1911) Boccioni ? *
· Before cubism · Brown and green suggestive of trees · Descriptive colours Way the paint has been applied which shows this movement of a train
What were the key point in their artwork?
· Depiction of movement or dynamism - expressing speed and motion including repetition and lines of force Manifestos - to communicate their aesthetic, political and social ideals
'Guns in action' (1915), Severini *
· Firing canon - breaking through the composition · The diagonal dominates the composition · Men look less important than the gun - they are labouring for it, they are based behind the wheel · After they are exploded there is silence · Combination of words and art to give an overall feeling of the sights, feeling First artistic movement to include words - influence from cubism - shadow movement of canon - any form of innovation - WW1 canon used in war - Cartoon simplified from letters surrounding it in French = centre of the art world to speak to more viewers - shape to reflect how the canon will act - Onomatopoeic words - Hygiene and heroicness of the machine
'Music' (1911), Russolo *
· Five arms to show the movement across the paino · Moving head from side to side - suggestion of movement Symphony of colour - faces suggest the different emotions music evokes in people - russolo did futurist music
Why were manifestos important to the futurists?
· Form · Language · "Destroy syntax and scatter nouns at random ... adjectives must be abolished ... adverbs must be abolished .. abolish all punctuation" Fascist view on women
'Futurist Manifesto: Technical painting'
· He rejects the rules of what has come before · P152 - he says we declare and fight · They are saying stuff but are not necessarily doing it · Traditional subjects must be swept aside They don't want the primitive - they are all about the modern
'Hand of the Violinist' 1912, Balla
· Like a metronome - showing the sound · Shape of the frame to suggest the amplification The texture of the paint and divisionism of colour suggest the vibrations
'House with external elevators' 1914
· Lots of glass and height · Elevators on the side to show how the building works · Foreshowing what le Corbusier later does They are very modern - envisioning a modern city
'Speed of motorcycle' (1913) Balla *
· Modern subject matter and modern technology · Swirls which are repeated which suggest wheels - it is moving and projecting the bike forwards · Curve is the person · Lines could echo the sound of speeding up or the dust being flicked up Brown, black, white - not exciting colours
'The revolt' 1911, Russolo *
· Modernity brings revolution · Social tension so revolution is part of the pre-war landscape · Futurists like this because it is cleansing · Blue is the city - falling and is being disrupted · Arrowhead shooting forward No distinction between faces - faceless powerful mass making the city shake on its side
'The Boulevard' (1911) Severini *
· People walking up and down a Boulevard - figures and men in bola hats and couples' tall trees · Anonymous figures in the city - link to Kirchner · The colors make it much more pleasant than what Kirchner does - bright neon colours · The big white lights -artificial lights in city · White dispersed throughout - shows the impact its having on the city · Gives a sense of movement · The shapes give a sense of movement and energy · This is from the cubists Lived and worked in Paris - most influenced by Cubism - influence from cubism is evident - fragmented geometric shapes, made up of triangular prisms - celebration of modern city - free Italy with its association with he past and culture - bright light show difference in artificial light - white light
'Abstract speed - the car has passed' 1913, Balla *
· Road going into distance · Flickering landscape · Lines of force suggest the movement Portrays speed and sound
'Head + House + Light' (1912) Boccioni, plaster with found materials, destroyed *
· Sculptor and the body are fused · He is making his sculptor out of something he lasts long Using the materials and shape to go back "Let us proclaim the absolute and final discarding of the finite line and of the closed form statue. Let us tear the body open and let us include its surroundings in it" - Boccioni, Manifesto of Futurist sculpture
'Those who leave' (1911), Boccioni and 'Those who go' (1911) Boccioni *
· Series of paintings called States of mind - these were based on · Extremely interested in movement · Trying to depict the influence of train travel - Want to paint this experience - Big change in his style - They adapted to change - shows they are innovative
Who and what influenced the Italian futurists?
· The cubists - use of lines or force, blurring to express speed and motion · Realists and symbolists had previously produced manifestos The Fascists - Parallels can be drawn as they were both strongly patriotic, excited by violence and opposed to parliamentary democracy
How did they portray technical invention?
· They talk about a need for a new Italian art · Finished in 1914 because of war · War is a cleanser; the world only hygiene · They wanted to get rid of its past Paint modern life - like machinery, futurist architecture, speed, things that are specific to the 20th century
What were their aims?
· They wanted to get rid of the past · They wanted to paint modern life like machinery, futurist architecture, speed and things that are specific to the 20th century They wanted to create a new Italian art
'Dynamism of a cyclist', 1913, Boccioni *
· Variety of colours could be the passing landscape · Joy of colour suggests freedom · Still figurative - can make out the bike · Using colour to show excitement and enjoyment · Texture Composition suggests speed and excitement
What are the themes in their work?
· Violence · Hypocritical · Fascist · Opera d'atre totale Dynamism - experience of the new city - new city squashing the past choice of subject matter