Today the word "futurism" might bring to mind artificial intelligence, clean energy and robotic limbs. A hundred years ago it meant something very specific: a deeply political art movement that rejected paintings which merely looked pretty in a frame and embraced those that challenged the status quo.
In 1909 the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti made the front page of the French newspaper Le Figaro with a manifesto for a movement he called Futurism. At its heart was a deep disdain for tradition. Marinetti wanted art to break from the lingering influence of the Italian Renaissance and Classical Rome and embrace modernity, technology, urban expansion and industry. The manifesto attracted the painters Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Giacomo Balla and Gino Severini, who spent the next five years producing Futurist works that are still celebrated today.
Style and influence
Futurist art was influenced by Neo-Impressionism and Cubism. It is notable for its dynamism, bright colours and geometric, abstracted forms. Most important is its subject matter: modern technology, particularly cars and aeroplanes, architecture, industry and busy city spaces. Above all the Futurists embraced speed, which is why so many of their paintings give the impression of motion.
Futurism proved short-lived. In 1914 it was rocked twice: first by a quarrel between the rival Milan and Florence groups, and then by the outbreak of the First World War. The movement had always had a troubling attitude to violence. In his manifesto Marinetti argued that destroying the old order through warfare was the best way to make progress.
After the war Marinetti took Futurism in an even more troubling direction. He re-established the movement, despite the deaths in the war of some of its most influential members, Boccioni included. In 1918 he founded the Futurist Political Party, which was then absorbed by Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party. Mussolini had no great interest in art, so Marinetti never achieved his dream of making Futurism the official state art of Fascist Italy. Sadly, the movement has been associated with Fascism ever since.
Here we look back at the heyday of early Futurism and three of the most iconic paintings of those first five years.
'The City Rises', Umberto Boccioni (1910)
Many art historians consider this the first Futurist painting. At first glance it seems too chaotic and abstract to make sense of, but let your eyes linger and the subject emerges. In the background, buildings are under careful construction, a nod to Futurism's forward-looking, industrial ethos. The foreground is a swirling mess of action as workers struggle to control their horses. The powerful, blood-red horse at the centre gives the painting a violent energy. It embodies the Futurist belief that progress is not possible without painful struggle.
'Abstract Speed + Sounds', Giacomo Balla (1913-14)
As with 'The City Rises', the subject, a motor car, isn't immediately clear. For the Futurists the car summed up everything that was right with the modern world. It was noisy, dirty and urban, and it improved human experience by letting us travel far faster than before. Balla expresses this through a motion-blur effect, with curving blue lines that suggest sound waves.
'The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli', Carlo Carrà (1911)
Carrà painted this to commemorate the Italian political activist Angelo Galli, who was killed by police during a general strike in 1906. Violence then erupted between protesters and police at his funeral.
The painting has a similar atmosphere to 'The City Rises', but its focus is more intensely political. At the centre sits Galli's red casket, barely held aloft in the chaos around it. The black banners are funereal, and they are also a popular anarchist symbol. As in many Futurist works, the perspective is slanted and the action skewed and blurred. Carrà clearly aimed to unsettle the viewer and prompt them to see the world from a new point of view.
Delving deeper into Futurism
You'll find Futurist works in galleries around the world. Boccioni's sculpture 'Unique Forms of Continuity in Space', for instance, is in London's Tate Modern. Futurism was not only an art movement, so you can also explore musicians such as Francesco Pratella, writers such as Farfa and Paolo Buzzi, and filmmakers such as Anton Bragaglia.
You can also bring Futurism home. Plenty of sites offer high-quality prints of paintings such as 'The City Rises'. Once you have your print, visit our Picture Frames & Mounts Page and enter its exact dimensions so that your frame fits.