Umberto Boccioni: The Complete Story
Umberto Boccioni was the driving force of Italian Futurism, the movement that worshipped speed, machines and the energy of the modern city. He tried to paint and sculpt motion itself, bodies and crowds blurred into lines of force. His striding bronze figure is so iconic it appears on an Italian euro coin, yet he was dead at thirty three.
The painter who loved engines and velocity was killed, absurdly, by a horse.
Born: Reggio Calabria, Italy, 1882
Known for: Futurism, dynamism, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
Died: near Verona, Italy, 1916
Painting pure motion
Futurism rejected the museums and the past and celebrated the car, the crowd, the factory. Boccioni wanted to capture not a frozen pose but movement and energy, the way a running figure smears through space. See what is cubism.
In The City Rises a great horse and labourers dissolve into a storm of motion, and in his States of Mind series he painted the feelings of a railway station, the rush of departure and the ache of those left behind. See what is oil painting.
The figure that strides off the coin
His masterpiece is a sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, a striding figure whose body streams backward into flame like ribbons, as if walking has torn the air. It is one of the defining images of modern sculpture.
It became so famous that Italy put it on the back of its twenty cent euro coin. Most people have held a Boccioni in their pocket without knowing it.
Manifestos and noise
Futurism was as much performance as painting. Boccioni co wrote fiery manifestos, gave rowdy lectures and helped turn the movement into a loud public provocation, glorifying youth, danger and even war.
That last enthusiasm turned tragic. He volunteered when the First World War came, and the worship of machines and speed curdled into real catastrophe for a whole generation.
The movement that began with a manifesto
Futurism started not with a painting but with a printed shout. In 1909 the poet Marinetti published the Futurist Manifesto, glorifying speed, machines and rebellion. Boccioni co wrote the painters' version and became its chief visual voice.
He threw himself into lectures, pamphlets and rowdy public events, treating art as a noisy campaign. Futurism was as much performance and provocation as it was painting, and Boccioni was its loudest performer.
Questions about Umberto Boccioni
What is Umberto Boccioni famous for?
Leading Futurism and the sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.
What is Futurism?
An Italian movement that celebrated speed, machines and the modern city, rejecting the past.
Where can you see his striding figure?
In museums, and on the Italian twenty cent euro coin.
How did he die?
In 1916, during the war, from a fall from a horse in a training exercise, aged 33.
Why the rush still moves
Boccioni died with Futurism barely begun, but his blurred crowds and streaming bronze figure fixed the look of speed for the whole twentieth century. Every later image of motion, in art, design and film, owes something to the man who tried to paint the wind of the modern world.
One last detail. Late in his short life Boccioni began to doubt Futurism and look back toward Cezanne and solid form, hinting he might have changed course entirely. The war ended that experiment before it could begin.