Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

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Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
Umberto Boccioni, 1913
Bronze, height 111.44 cm, 43.875 in
New York City, Museum of Modern Art (1931 cast)
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space on the obverse of the Italian 20-cent euro coin.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space on the obverse of the Italian 20-cent euro coin.

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (Italian: Forme uniche della continuità nello spazio) is a bronze Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. It is seen as an expression of movement and fluidity. Boccioni rejected traditional sculpture and depictions to create this piece and it is seen as a masterpiece of Futurism.[1] The sculpture is depicted on the obverse of the Italian-issue 20 cent euro coin.

Contents

[edit] History

The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. Boccioni, though trained as a painter, began sculpting in 1912. He exclaimed that "these days I am obsessed by sculpture! I believe I have glimpsed a complete renovation of that mummified art."[2] The next year, Boccioni completed the sculpture. His goal for the work was to depict a "synthetic continuity" of motion instead of an "analytical discontinuity" that he saw artists like František Kupka and Marcel Duchamp portraying.[3]

[edit] Composition

It seems clear to me that this succession is not to be found in repetition of legs, arms and faces, as many people have stupidly believed, but is achieved through the intuitive search for the unique form which gives continuity in space.
Umberto Boccioni[3]

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space depicts a human-like figure seemingly flying or gliding through air. A clinging drapery whips back around his legs, giving the sculpture an aerodynamic and fluid form. Instead of a traditional pedestal, the figure is only bound to the ground by two blocks at his feet. The figure is also armless and without a discernibly real face.

Though Boccioni apparently reviled traditional sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space does resemble more realist works.[4] The flowing, windswept drapery looks back to the classical Winged Victory of Samothrace, which Filippo Marinetti, founder of Futurism, declared was inferior in beauty to a roaring car.[5] The lack of arms also pays homage to Auguste Rodin's Walking man.[6]

[edit] Original plaster and casts

Boccioni's work was in plaster, and was never cast into bronze in his lifetime; this is on display at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea. Two casts were made in 1931 (one is on display at the Museum of Modern Art[4]), two were made in 1949 (one is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art[2]), and in 1972 (one is on display at the Tate Modern[7]), and another eight in 1972 made not from the plaster, but a 1949 cast.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Petrie, Brian (March 1973). "Futurism at the Royal Academy". The Burlington Magazine 115 (840): 196-198. 
  2. ^ a b Umberto Boccioni: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  3. ^ a b Henderson, Linda (1981). "Italian Futurism and "The Fourth Dimension"". Art Journal 41 (4): 317-323. 
  4. ^ a b Umberto Boccioni. Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. 1913. The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
  5. ^ Richard, Paul (2008-01-11), “FUTURISM; A smashing Show of the Artist-Prophets Who Put Modern Art in Motion”, The Washington Post 
  6. ^ Glueck, Grace (2008-01-11), “ART REVIEW; Blurring the Line Between the Present and the Future”, New York Times, <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00EFDB103AF930A25751C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all> 
  7. ^ Umberto Boccioni: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. The Tate Modern. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.