The first time I had heard of futurism was two weeks ago. Umberto Boccioni is one of the most well known futurists, so it wasn’t too difficult to make connections from his work in the Palazzo Real to the futuristic style. His piece “Twilight” really stuck out to me and exhibits different characteristics of futurism. The factories in the painting portrays the beauty of speed and machine of the futuristic era. Space does not exist in the painting. Due to the dark hues you can’t tell where the landscape begins and where it ends.
Another piece of artwork that stood out to me was the beautiful bronze sculpture “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space” also by Umberto Boccioni. The sculpture appears to be of a man running. The movement of the sculpture corresponds to the speed of the fast paced factories in Boccioni’s other painting “Twilight”. The sculpture is definitely unique, following the rule in the Futurist Manifesto that states that all forms of originality will be glorified. The sculpture also portrays movement where you can’t fully tell where the man begins. Another piece of artwork by Umberto Boccioni I enjoyed that was at the Palazzo Real was “Tre Donne”.
