Futurism, described by art quotes on the Futurist artists ideas, their many Manifestos, the meaning of the Futurism art movement, the art characteristics and some history facts.
short introduction: Futurism was a very dynamic art movement of Italian origin; it started circa 1910 by Marinetti. Bendien explains Futurism essentially as an art & LIFE movement. Bendien describes here the main ideas of the Futurist artists and the meaning of the famous Futurist Manifesto.The Futurist artists were longing for a dynamic modern city-life, full of movement, vitality, power and energy. The roots of Futurism origin was this dynamic, modern city with its many cars, busy traffic movements, early airplanes, the daily noise, etc. Starting-point was the Futurist Manifesto in 1908, by poet and writer Marinetti; Futurist artists who followed him were Carra, Boccioni, Severini, Luigo Russolo, Balla etc.. These selected art-quotes on Futurism are taken from Trends in the Present Day Art of Painting, by Dutch art-critic Jacob Bendien. Editor, Fons Heijnsbroek translation, Anne Porcelijn.
Noise of the Street (detail), Boccioni 1911
Futurism starts its theoretical manifestation more or less like other dogmatic movements, with all other expressions (art movements) encompassing just a few sentences. In fact, even more radically than did Neo Plasticism (= De Stijl).
The first demand made by the Futurists is that the lazy spectator leave his comfortable chair, from which he can view the painting and be drawn into the centre of the painting ( the basic concept of Futurist ideas, fh!). This way the spectator will be less critical but experience the painting more spontaneously.
Futurist art makes us ask ourselves whether we are capable of surrendering to a painting without criticizing it beforehand, and only passing judgment afterwards.
In the first place Futurism is a philosophy of life, based on the question of how to push life to its greatest possible force and fullness. It asks itself only: what creates the most turbulence?
Futurists idealize war as well as revolution as being practical instruments for inducing a greater activity in life. Why and what for were questions never asked.
They (the artists in Futurism, ed) see tradition only as a hindrance to all originality in life /living. Brulons les musee (Burn down the museums) is one of their phrases. Perhaps our overly refined culture needs nothing other than this young, simple courage and recklessness.
Anything referring to peace or harmony is only an irritant to them, just as the notions of good taste and moderation. They (the artists in Futurism, ed) put life in all its extremes above art.
Their reality is: cars, dance halls, street fights. Factors in this reality compete with one another in the artist through their emotional force. This is the way a Futuristic painting comes about, inharmonious but brave and bold.
Futurists have a primitive respect for quantity. They talk of the speed capacity of a car with veneration. They revere the tension in danger.
Futurists put their own passion before anything else and activate and exaggerate this in their art. They systematically exaggerate to the extreme.
As with all primitive people, for the Futurist life is: movement. In his artwork he stresses this. He seems to be unaware of a static, contemplative life; therefore, according to him this does not exist. Anything that doesnt move is dead (for artists in Futurism, fh).
Their conclusion is that the more movement there is, the richer the life expressed in the painting. This intellectual abstraction and exaggeration of movement (by Futurism style) also gives a slightly cerebral character to Futuristic art. We can however see this as an unnecessary digression .
The action of a line, that in nature can also influence space outside its border, is a given that they try to extend, they continue the painting outside the frame and continue endlessly.
This way the painting becomes the center of offshoots of strong lines and planes, as they are called by Futurists, going off in all directions. Faced by this center of excessive expression of strength, the spectator forgets his level-headed criticism. He is drawn into the painting and forced to participate ( a unique invention of Futurism, repeated later by Theo van Doesburg, Pollock, even Rothko and many other modern artists, fh).
Real Futurism is constantly testing itself against real life. For instance, when we perceive a man, for a second we see his collar, tie and the lower part of his chin, and, at the same time, a passing tram. The next moment we see his left ear with some hair and a vase behind him.
The Futurist is searching for a total of dynamic sensations as they are felt by him, through the rhythm of the various fragmented impressions and their movements, or rather their inner strength.
He (the artist in Futurism art movement, fh) portrays on-going actions as simultaneous but also as the elapsing of time.
Even so, the Futuristic synthesis is not created in superficial contact with reality. It is often more securely based in reality than the construction of Impressionistic paintings.
Futurism approaches reality with active analysis, dividing it into as many different factors as possible. Everything that decomposes and dematerializes reality, such as light and movement, is welcome. A galloping horse does not have four legs but twenty he cries enthusiastically.
The inner strengths, activities, rhythms and poses are of specific interest to Futurists. He allows all these factors to influence him. The more they contrast the better. Only subjects that call forth new and strong emotions are accepted. Their reality is cars, dance halls, and street fights.
In Futuristic art the subject plays a major part, without however, in any way limiting the art itself. In Cubism art has achieved its own place but at the cost of the subject.
In the absolute art of painting as in Neo Plasticism (= De Stijl, ed.), the entire manifestation of reality as a subject has disappeared.
Futurism wants to respect the subject as in (art movement, ed.) New Objectivity. They accuse the Cubists and other modern artists, saying that they have no respect for life and reality, in the same way the New Objectivists scorned them.
The voracious, primitive Futurist has instant contact with reality, even if it is somewhat rough and ready, rather like a farmer with his land.
The faith of the Futurists is in the ability of the spectator to feel the dynamic connection as they experience it in reality and have painted. The Dadaists took this even further.
The discovery of the mystical relationship of inner strengths is of such importance (quite strange for realistic primitives like the Futurists) that for this reason alone Futurism deserves more recognition than it generally receives.
Dadaism shares many similarities with Futurism. Both attempt to actively involve the spectator, each in his own way. Both aspire to an intimate contact with everyday life and, both resist the norm of good taste.
They are also both destructive, Dadaism and Futurism, Futurism only on the exterior. In Dadaism this is deeper they want to dismantle our inner, spiritual and moral constructions.
* more concepts and ideas from artists in the modern Italian art movement Futurism, on Wikipedia
* many images of modern art, created in Italian Futurism, on Google
* Futurist concepts and ideas, described in quotes o the famous artists of Italian Futurism, by Carra, Boccioni, Marinetti, Severini and Russolo, co-operating in writing the famous Manifesto of Futurist Painters.
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