ART WEEK: FUTURISTS

According to Wikipedia, "Futurism was an artistic movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the aeroplane and the industrial city."

The painterly style of the Futurists was especially eye catching at MOMA. Because of MOMA's stellar exhibit, I became better acquainted with the Rayonist artists - including the Russian Natalia Goncharova (Rayonism, Blue-Green Forest), Russian Mikhail Larionov (Rayonist Composition, Domination of Red) and Morgan Russel (Synchrony) - and can't believe they painted such forward thinking pieces in 1911-1917! Giacomo Balla was the futurist I remembered from the Graphic Design History books, and his piece seamed to leap off the wall. According to the MOMA website, "The most important aspect taken from Futurism was the idea of lines of force. The Rayonist painter was to attempt to capture the “intangible forms and immaterial objects" created by the intersection of rays reflecting off two or more objects.