Umberto Boccioni

Happy Birthday Umberto Boccioni!! The Italian painter/sculptor was born on this day in 1882, in Reggio Calabria. After graduating from a technical school, he traveled a bit and began to paint and experiment with engravings. He became associated with the Futurists and issued the Futurist Manifesto of Sculpture in 1912. He wrote a book on the subject as well. The writings urged young painters to “pursue living, dynamic and original forms of art.” Boccioni’s most well known sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space conveys the feeling of motion as we view the man in mid-stride, with molten metal flowing out behind the him. Portions of the calves, and feet seem to streak behind the moving figure, while the chest caves in with the momentum. Unfortunately, Boccioni died prematurely of injuries sustained in World War I, in 1917.



Futurism-Art movement originating outside of Paris, in 1909, ending with World War I. Artists were involved with depicting transformations of the world as a result of science primarily representation of figures and machines in motion. Boccioni, Carra, Russolo, Balla, and Severini signed the Manifestos.