Futurism

We explain what futurism is, its historical and social context and its characteristics. In addition, the artistic disciplines in which he stood out.

What is futurism?

Futurism was a artistic movement belonging to the European avant-garde of the 20th century. It burst into Italy in 1909 with the publication of the Futuristic manifesto by the Italian poet, playwright and editor Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944).

Look for break with moral tradition and the past of art and poetry. His maxims were the exaltation of speed, the fascination with technological novelty, the machinic (that is, everything related to machines) and movement.

It was offered as a current, fierce and aggressive movement. Although its main axis had to do with literature, it also had an important impact on the plastic arts, architecture, urban planning, fashion, cinema and advertising. In painting, the signing of the Manifesto of the futurist painters the year after the publication of Marinetti's manifesto.

Futurism also had an important presence in music. The founding text of futurist music was the manifesto The art of noises (L'arte dei rumori)written by the Italian composer Luigi Russolo (1885-1947) in a letter addressed to his friend Francesco Balilla Pratella (1880-1955). In this writing, Russolo proposed elevating noise to the category of art and other disruptive ideas that had a very significant impact on experimental art and music of the 20th century.

futurism set an important precedent for later artistic movements like surrealism and dada.

Fragment of the Futuristic manifesto published in the French newspaper The Figaro

“We affirm that the magnificence of the world has been enriched with a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing car with its hood adorned with thick pipes similar to snakes with explosive breath… a roaring car, which seems to surpass shrapnel, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace.”.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, 1909.

Historical and social context of futurism

Futurism was born in Milan, Italy, and It is considered a fundamentally Italian movement. Due to his nationalist, misogynistic and warlike temper, he is associated with the fascist thought that later emerged with Benito Mussolini. Many futurists, including especially its founder, Marinetti, adhered to the fascist regime. Others became disillusioned and gradually moved away.

An emblematic case in this sense is that of the futurist painter Carlo Carrá (1881-1966), who abandoned fascism in 1920 because he considered that his artistic vision was incompatible with the violence and authoritarianism that was beginning to worsen in Italy. He ended up isolated, censored by the regime and exiled.

The greatest exponents of futurism enlisted when the First World War broke out. Few returned from the front, and those who did did not necessarily continue with the movement, so the operational center of Futurism shifted from Milan to Rome.

When Marinetti died in 1944, Futurism had already become an academic movement that had abandoned its rebellious spirit.

Characteristics of futurism

Futurism defines itself in its manifestos, based on these principles:

Obsessed with speed

futurism He considered speed to be a virtue of the moment and exalted it in his works. Allusions to dizzying mechanical movement and themes related to industrial civilization were recurrent.

He was attracted to novelty and technology.

The futurists confessed in their writings their fascination with the technological progress of industrialization and the mechanization of the modern world. In their works they sought to transmit dynamism and movement, and to do so they fragmented the objects into small successive moments, or into symmetrically multiplied transparencies and images.

He exalted brute force and conflict

For futurism, the beauty was in the confrontation. In his plastic or literary works, allusions to nationalism, heroism, audacity, the consideration of life as a constant struggle and the exaltation of war action were frequent.

Abandoned still image

Painting had traditionally been in charge of framing a still moment. Futurism, on the other hand, sought by all means to represent the vertigo of the movement. To do so, he abandoned the classic brushstroke and explored novel ways of showing speed in his compositions. The futurists incorporated geometric and fragmented shapes, alternating tones and vibrant colors.

Experimented with new materials

The search for futuristic novelty was noted even in the use of non-traditional materials such as cardboard, colored glass, steel, fabric, aluminum or celluloid. All of these materials were combined with traditional raw materials such as bronze or plaster to create lighting effects or a feeling of dynamism.

futuristic poetry

Futurist poetry was especially prominent in Russia. Great Russian writers such as Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and David Burliuk (1882-1967), who were also painters, were enthusiastic futurist poets, with perspectives so unique that they broke with Marinetti's futurism in 1914.

In Russian futurist poetry it is common to find revolutionary enthusiasm perhaps an anticipation of what would happen in the October Revolution of 1917, when communist militants overthrew tsarism and established the Bolshevik regime.

The song of modernity, the machine, progress and change is felt in the futuristic verses, as seen in these examples:

“Poet and Worker” by Vladimir Mayakovsky

We are couples
Comrades, within the working mass.
Proletarians of body and soul.
Only together we will beautify the world
And we will drive it with hymns.

“Car Song” by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (excerpt)

Vehement God of a race of steel,
space drunk car
What blunders of anguish, with the brake on the strident teeth!
Oh formidable Japanese monster with forge eyes,
nourished by flames and mineral oils,
hungry for horizons and sidereal prey
your heart expands with its diabolical taf-taf (…)

futuristic painting

Futurist painting was greatly influenced by cubism, to such a degree that the first futurist canvases they could have passed for cubists. However, pictorial futurism soon established its own style, based on its desire to represent reality in its lines and shapes.

Futurist painters used pure color and geometric shapes, and represented objects successively, as if they were in motion, and other effects to create dynamism. Many of its followers came to abstractionism through their foray into Rayonism.

futuristic architecture

Futurist architecture was a commitment to a new aesthetic and a break with traditional models. To represent the speed used straight, diagonal and curved lines that aspired to convey hurry, movement and vibration.

It was an architectural trend that valued calculation and audacity. It sought to transmit dynamism and energy, and an austere and functional aesthetic. To do this, he replaced stone and brick with elastic and versatile materials, such as reinforced concrete, textile fiber, glass, iron and cardboard.

futuristic architecture found inspiration in the modern world, Therefore, it incorporated technological innovations such as elevators, escalators, electric lighting and ventilation systems.

Representatives of futurism

Some of the main representatives of futurism were:

Representatives of futurism in literature

• Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944). He was an Italian playwright and poet, founder and main ideologue of futurism. His Futuristic manifesto 1909 marked the beginning of the movement.
• Giovanni Papini (1881-1956). He was an Italian essayist, poet and novelist, and one of the first writers to adhere to futurism.
• Carlos Felipe Porfirio (1895-1970). He was an Italian poet, filmmaker, painter and ethnologist, director of the magazine Portugal Futuristic (1917).
• Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888-1970). He was an Italian poet, who began as a futurist writer and later distanced himself from the movement to develop his own literary path.
• Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930). He was a Russian artist, poet, playwright and actor, considered one of the most important exponents of Russian futurism.

Representatives of futurism in music

• Luigi Russolo (1885-1947). He was an Italian composer and painter. Believe The art of noises (1913), founding text of musical futurism.
• Francesco Balilla Pratella (1884-1956). He was an important Italian critic, musician and theorist. He explained the ideas of the movement in his book futuristic music (1911).

Representatives of futurism in architecture

• Antonio Sant'Elia (1888-1916). He was an Italian architect, considered one of the most important futurist architects, although his works were never built and only remained in projects and drawings.
• Angiolo Mazzoni (1890-1979). He was an Italian architect and engineer, famous for his large eclectic and experimental buildings and his service to the Italian fascist government.
• Nikolay Diulgheroff (1896-1980). He was a Bulgarian artist, designer and architect, whose work was characterized by being geometric, with bright colors and cosmic themes.

Representatives of futurism in cinema

• Arnaldo Ginna (1892-1982). He was an Italian filmmaker, poet, art critic, painter and playwright. He experimented with poetic language and futuristic cinema. He directed the film “La maschera del futurismo” (1916).

References

• Futurism (sf). Treccani. Retrieved May 9, 2024, from https://www.treccani.it/
• Ruhrberg, K., Schneckenburger, M., Fricke, C., & Klaus H. (2001). 20th century art. Taschen.