The Work and Influence of Filippo Marinetti & Umberto Boccioni

In Europe the transition from the 19th to the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a number of artistic and social movements which left a great impact on societies, not only in Europe but also worldwide. Movements such as Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Constructivism played an important role in changing society for the better by using their design and art practices.

This era also witnessed a number of ideological and cultural changes in many fields such as psychology, philosophy, arts, and technology. Behind the popularity of Dada, Surrealism, Constructivism, Art Deco, and also Vorticism, there was a strong idea of Futurism which incorporated elements of technology, speed, violence, and mechanical objects such as cars, airplanes, and bicycles. Futurism was largely an Italian based movement, however there were other versions of the movement happening around the world, including Russia, and England..

Most Futurists practiced in various mediums of art. According to Anonymous (2010), sculpture, painting, architecture, ceramics, industrial design, interior design, graphic design, theatre and film, textiles, and literature were all acceptable mediums for The Futurists. Two of the more notorious Futurists were Filippo Marinetti, and Umberto Boccioni. Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism and Boccioni’s plastic dynamism and sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space are two very well known pieces of art which played an important role in the popularity of Futurism.

The works of the two futurists inspired many artists of their time and are still well known amongst contemporary artists. When the French newspaper, Le Figaro, published on its front page a manifesto about an artistic group, no one knew about the author. The manifesto was written by an EgyptianItalian named Filippo Marinetti, who was based in Milan and was one of the founding fathers of Futurism. The literary piece was about Le Futurism, the foundation manifesto of the artistic group which was in the process of forming. Marinetti was a natural born writer he wrote from a very young age.

He studied in Paris, where he furthered his love for literature. Marinetti’s rebellious nature caused him some difficulties even at this age. He faced the threat of expulsion when he tried to publish Emile Zola’s scandalous novels through the school magazine. (Harrison 2003, 35) Shortly after the manifesto was published Marinetti was thrust into the public eye, gaining notoriety amongst his contemporaries who saw that he would introduce large changes in the art world. However he was severely criticized by some artists because of his passionate hate for old art and politics.

In the article, Marinetti idealized the beauty of modern life and discussed the benefits of machinery, speed, violence, and youth. He talked about the transformation of Italian culture in a new artistic world. According to Henning (2006), Marinetti’s manifesto was not welcomed by most historians who saw it as an attack against history, and historicism. They were of the view that Marinetti joined anti-musuem sentiment with nationalism. Even though the manifesto was published in a French newspaper, it received a large response from Italy. The manifesto was published in the French newspaper Le Figaro, but he emphasized its source -’from Italy’- at the same time as he rejected the museum culture of Italy, and by implication France too, in the effort to pronounce himself of the present, and of the future. Marinetti associated museums with an obsessions with the past which was corrupting and infecting the body of the nation. ” (Henning 2006, 39) Marinetti’s manifesto continued to gain popularity from contemporary artists and draw criticism from contemporary historians.

His opposition to museums were considered a threat to the connection between ancient art and literature. In 1916, when Marinetti introduced the manifesto ‘The New Religion-Morality of Speed’, it was clear that it had some connection with the past. Though Marinetti adorned this manifesto with technological excitement, he used the parody of religious language, which confused his critics. ‘The New Religion’ has received a strong response from authors over time. For example Blum (1996) see in the manifesto a strong logic for Futurism. The binary structuring of reality is tied to the founding of a new religion. In ‘La nuova religione-role della velocita’ (The New Religion-Morality of Speed; 1916), Marinetti argues that speed, whose essence is ‘the intuitive synthesis of all forces in movement,’ is, by nature, pure. ” (Blum 1996, 34) Despite a strict Catholic upbringing, Marinetti was an open opponent of religion, especially the influence of The Vatican in Italy. He was greatly influenced by his fathers interest in the history of religion. He had great command of the use of religious language, but always with an anti-clerical tone.

For example, in his manifesto, ‘Against the Papacy and the Catholic Mentality, Repositories of Every Kind of Traditionalism’, Marinetti launched a campaign for the liberation of Italy from The Vatican. Despite there being clear anti-Catholic tirades in his two manifestos-Against Spain, and Against the Papacy and the Catholic Mentality- one can easily find a solid religious foundation within his writings. Bru and Martens (2006) see a connection between the manifestos. They are of the opinion that despite a gap of over nine years between the publication of the two manifestos, little change is seen in his views of religion. Marinetti expressed his anti-Catholic sentiments in the manifestos, Against Spain (1910) and Against the Papacy and the Catholics Mentality, Repositories of Every Kind of Traditionalism (1919). He was fervently supported by Settimelli, whose brochure Svaticanamento: Dichiarazione agli italiani, attacked the Vatican in such strong term that it was sequestered and its author taken to court. ” (Bru and Martens 2006, 179) Berghaus (2009) has found genuinely innovative elements in the manifestos of Marinetti. He is of the opinion that Marinetti’s manifestos propagate the futurist reform of lifestyle. Marinetti was opposed to any fetishization of the muscular body and was highly critical of the Fascist adoption of sporting spectacles for the purpose of indoctrination. He was interested in healthy bodies with agile minds. Modern physical culture was an ally in his battle against decadence, materialism, and outdated values. ” (Berghaus 2009, 33) Therefore, it can be said that the hidden religious characteristics of Marinetti helped to construct his anti-Catholic and anti-clerical campaign. It is obvious that he developed this quality because of his father’s close connection with religion and religious symbolism.

Marinetti’s role in giving a significant position to Futurism in the cultural history of the twentieth century cannot be ignored. Italian painter and sculptor Boccioni is considered to be one of Italy’s most important Futurists. He laid a strong foundation for the concept of Futurism in Italy. Boccioni, who studied art in Rome’s Scuola Libera del Nudo a the Accademia dil Belle Arti, launched a campaign in 1914 to transform Italy, and introduce Plastic Dynamism. His encounter with Futurism came after many years of studying the psychology of artistic dilemmas.

He used powerful plastic forms to convey a concept of movement both intrinsic and relative to the object’s environment. After studying the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists in Paris. Boccioni played a very important role in the establishment of Futurism in Italy in 1911. This was time when Futurism had formed an idiosyncratic and vibrant style, with earl stages of pointillism giving way to a softer, less distinct neo-impressionisitic aesthetic. Smith (1997) says that because of Boccioni’s stern anti-traditional notions, researchers often find a similarity between himself and Marinetti’s ideologies.

The response of the two Futurists towards tradition and the influence of religion on society in Italy is very similar indeed. However, according to Smith, Boccioni is differs slightly in his ideas about modernism. “Although most writers on Futurism accept that Boccioni was caught up by Marinetti’s ideology, most have isolated his work from his proto-Facist politics. His work is thus discussed primarily in terms of his use of the formal devices for the representation of modernity that the Futurists advocated in their manifesto; theories of modernism and various forms of contemporary philosophy are also invoked. (Smith 1997, 111) Like Marinetti, Boccioni audaciously attacked traditional values in his book ‘Pittura e scultura futuriste (dinamismo plastico)’. He announced that his ideas n Plastic Dynamism would function as an anti-traditional idea, and revive not only Italy, but the whole world. In plastic dynamism, Boccioni tried to find a connection between plastic form, and it’s surrounding space. Boccioni has received great attention from Hays (2000) who has closely researched the development of Plastic Dynamism.

The author gives credit to Boccioni in the development of new theories in the genre. “A more essential evolution of these problems, and one closer to the scientific movement that emancipated physical theory from the old notion of matter and its correlative space, is the basis of the new plastic theories developed by the Futurist Umberto Boccioni in his writings on Plastic Dynamism. ” (Hays 2000), 592) Boccioni, in his writing severely criticized the traditional aesthetic taste of a democratic states, and said they were largely comprised of pseudo-intellectuals, anarchists, and socialists.

He held Enrico Ferri, the socialist editor of L’Avanti in high regard, but was also supportive of Enrico Corradini, the nationalist novelist and journalist. Despite Boccioni’s criticism of the Italian Nationalist Association for it failure to assist the futurists in promoting the movement politically, he was of the view that Corradini’s nationalist beliefs were a beacon of hope in a corrupt society. Boccioni studied closely both the nature of an object in motion and its visual revolution in relation to the environment through which it travels.

Contrary to traditionalists, his plastic dynamism was a regeneration of plastic consciousness which rejected the devastating effects of democratic-rationalist education. (Kwinter, 2001, 61) Therefore it would not be wrong to say that the aesthetics of Plastic Dynamism which Boccioni highlighted in his writing was anti-democratic as well as anti-traditional. According to Harte (2009), Boccioni, despite his inspiration from the Avant Garde art movements of Picasso and Braque, presented his ideas in a different style. Unlike the cubists, Picasso and Braque, who fragmented the painted object with little regard for its relationship to the surrounding world, Boccioni and his fellow futurists emphasized an aestheticised object’s interaction with that world, regarding this interaction as critical to a successful expression of rapid movement on the static canvas or through three dimensional, sculpted forms. ” (Harte 2009, 18) Boccioni’s understanding of the fourth dimension successfully bound the theory of space to a temporal idea of revolution.

This understanding makes Boccioni prominent amongst other Futurists. The study of the work and writings of both Boccioni and Marinetti make it clear that without an understanding of these two figures, it is difficult to understand the concept of Futurism itself. These two Futurists played an important role in sparking people’s interest in the Futurist movement, created a template not only for artistic ideas, but also for cultural and social disobedience and a fundamental opposition to traditional aesthetic, moral and political opinions.

They each attempted to clarify the Futurist’s ideals and their work left a great impact on society. Smith (1997) provides further evidence of the ideological connection between Boccioni and Marinetti. “Boccioni and Marinetti founded a movement based on speed. With the death of it’s leading artists, Boccioni, Futurism died fast. ” (Strickland and Boswell 2007, 139)

References

1. Anonymous (2010) Futurism: Futurist Manifesto, Suite Vollard Enrico Prampolini, General Books LLC, New York Anonymous Berghaus, G. 2009)
2. Futurism and the Technological Imagination, Rodopi, Amsterdam Blum, C S. (1996)
3. The Other Modernism: F. T. Marinetti’s Futurist Fiction of Power, University of California Press, California Bru, S. , and Martens, G. (2006)
4. The Invention of Politics in the European Avant-garde, Rodolphi, Amsterdam Harrison, A. (2003)
5. D. H. Lawrence and Italian Futurism: A Study of Influence, Rodopi, Harte, T. (2009)
6. Fast Forward The Aesthetics and Ideology of Speed in Russian Avant-Garde Culture, University of Wisconsin Press, Wisconsin Hays, M. 2000)
7. Architecture Theory Since 1968, MIT Press, Cambridge Henning, M. (2006)
8. Museums, Media, and Cultural Theory. McGraw-Hill International, London Smith, T E. (1997)
9. Invisible Touch: Modernism and Masculinity, University of Chicago Press, Chicago Strickland, C. , and Boswell J (2007)
10. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post Modern. Andrews McMeel Publishing, Riverside, NJ Figure 1.
11. Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913, Umberto Boccioni From: http://www. octorhugo. org/synaesthesia/art/ Figure 2.
12. Dynamism of a cyclist, painting, 1913, Umberto Boccioni From: http://artsforhealthmmu. blogspot. com/2011/08/blog-post. html Figure 3.
13. Futurist Manifesto, newspaper article, 1917, Filippo Marinetti From: http://www. collezioni-f. it/marinetti01. jpg Figure 4.
14. Parole in Liberta, book illustration, 1917, Filippo Marinetti From: http://blanchardmodernart. blogspot. com/2010/10/cubism-and-futurism. html