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Ivo Pannaggi, Speeding Train (Treno in corsa), 1922
Painting, sculpture, architecture, design, ceramics, fashion, film, photography, advertising, free-form poetry, publications, music, theater and performance—Italian Futurism encompassed all of these and more in the years before World War I, as one of early modern art’s most dynamic, controversial and unpredictable movements. Unlike their Cubist contemporaries in Paris—who, despite the atomizing effects of their revolutionary style, tended toward classic genres like still life—Futurism’s artists wanted to capture movement through time and space. It was all of a piece with their desire to represent the 20th century’s cultural ferment and breakneck industrialization. The Futurists, whose politics at the start ranged from socialism to anarchism, celebrated the speed made possible by the locomotive, the automobile and the airplane, and they gloried in the rebellious fervor of mobs, making images of strikers or demonstrators a favorite subject. They also extolled violence as a means of upending the entrenched order, as well as embracing misogyny, militarism and nationalism, eventually associating with the Italian Fascism of the 1920s and ’30s. Yet despite its complicated history, Futurism’s disregard for artistic limitations and aesthetic boundaries, and its exploitation of mass media to publicize its activities, offers lessons for today.
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The Guggenheim Museum reveals the paintings, sculptures and history of Italian Futurism this year for this first time in American history. The exhibit examines the dynamic and controversial background of the movement, showcasing works by Tullio Crali, Umberto Boccioni and Ivo Pannaggi. Explore the complicated history and prominent personalities of the Futurist movement by scrolling through the slideshow below.
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