Italian Futurism: Revolutionizing Art Through Speed and Modernity
In the history of the visual art culture, breaks in the state of what was perceived as steady have existed. It is one of those where Futurism is invited as a great intervention that interrupts the harmony of a classical writing. Futurism would appear and sound like a mechanical roar: fast, loud, and gave art a new direction, which was the pace of modern life in the 20th century.
What were the personalities who accomplished this radical shift and who distributed their ideas in art over the Italian borders?
What were the personalities who accomplished this radical shift and who distributed their ideas in art over the Italian borders?
italian futurism
Daryna Markova
contributor DOM Art Residence
Jul 3, 2025
History of Italian Futurism
All phases of Italian Futurism can be described by the way the movement developed in response to the cultural and political climate of that time. Its leaders, its roots, and its defining moments were the ingredients of a good epic.
The Beginning: Birth of a Movement
There was a spark that led to the birth of Futurism, dating back to 20 February 1909. On the same day, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had gotten the Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of an enormous French newspaper, Le Figaro. Here, Marinetti ranted against the old order and extolled speed, machines, anarchy in the city, and even violence as those things which had the power to catapult culture into a new era. The manifesto needed a break from all the things of the past.
Italian artists were soon drawn to Marinetti's vision, and they were not left behind in this revolt against convention by Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, and Carlo Carr, all of whom followed him into the movement named Futurism.
They have incorporated their voice in this new movement and together with manifestos of futurist painters, they co-authored such manifesto props as the Manifesto of Futurist Painters and the Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting in 1910.
There was a spark that led to the birth of Futurism, dating back to 20 February 1909. On the same day, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti had gotten the Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of an enormous French newspaper, Le Figaro. Here, Marinetti ranted against the old order and extolled speed, machines, anarchy in the city, and even violence as those things which had the power to catapult culture into a new era. The manifesto needed a break from all the things of the past.
Italian artists were soon drawn to Marinetti's vision, and they were not left behind in this revolt against convention by Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, and Carlo Carr, all of whom followed him into the movement named Futurism.
They have incorporated their voice in this new movement and together with manifestos of futurist painters, they co-authored such manifesto props as the Manifesto of Futurist Painters and the Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting in 1910.
Later Developments
With the introduction of World War I, there was a revolutionary shift in the course of Futurism. A notion of the war was effectively promoted by numerous representatives of the war who think that it would become the mechanism of cleansing and the stimulus of the cultural and technological evolution.
Among those who introduced this concept was Umberto Boccioni, an Italian artist whose influence greatly contributed to the development of the school in its early stages. What was already an innovative career was unfortunately terminated in 1916, when he was killed during a piece of cavalry training. To Futurism, it was a loss which could never be compensated.
The originator of the art, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, also took part in the war. On the one hand, in the beginning, he discovered that it was a precondition to change; on the other hand, his own experience in this field proved to him that it was so much more brutal.
Nevertheless, Marinetti was a nationalist and in the post-war era joined the cause of the new fascist regime led by Benito Mussolini. He stayed in power to employ Futurism as a cultural tool in supporting the authoritarian Politics.
The post-war period was an eye-opener for artists. The political climate of Italy was becoming more and more unstable, and the energy that had helped to spur Futurism was starting to be torn apart.
Others became disillusioned with the political orientation of the movement at some point or simply disappointed with the previous version of hopes and turned to abstraction or chose quite different ideological associations of their interest. The rebellious artistic outburst ended up being caught in the apparatus of state propaganda.
With the introduction of World War I, there was a revolutionary shift in the course of Futurism. A notion of the war was effectively promoted by numerous representatives of the war who think that it would become the mechanism of cleansing and the stimulus of the cultural and technological evolution.
Among those who introduced this concept was Umberto Boccioni, an Italian artist whose influence greatly contributed to the development of the school in its early stages. What was already an innovative career was unfortunately terminated in 1916, when he was killed during a piece of cavalry training. To Futurism, it was a loss which could never be compensated.
The originator of the art, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, also took part in the war. On the one hand, in the beginning, he discovered that it was a precondition to change; on the other hand, his own experience in this field proved to him that it was so much more brutal.
Nevertheless, Marinetti was a nationalist and in the post-war era joined the cause of the new fascist regime led by Benito Mussolini. He stayed in power to employ Futurism as a cultural tool in supporting the authoritarian Politics.
The post-war period was an eye-opener for artists. The political climate of Italy was becoming more and more unstable, and the energy that had helped to spur Futurism was starting to be torn apart.
Others became disillusioned with the political orientation of the movement at some point or simply disappointed with the previous version of hopes and turned to abstraction or chose quite different ideological associations of their interest. The rebellious artistic outburst ended up being caught in the apparatus of state propaganda.
Legacy: Influence on Modern Art
Even though it was described as fascist politics, the visual and conceptual experimentations brought about by Italian Futurism continue to inspire art movements around the globe. The idea of movement, speed, and power also prompted giving new outlets among the artists of diverse media. Futurism preconditioned Constructivism, which was oriented towards the search for the means to create art, matching technological advances and industrial design.
Communicating with the public was also a characteristic of the Futurist experience. Futurist evenings (serate futuriste) combined speech, statements, sound, and noise. Performance art and confrontation became mixed during such nights, and evenings would end with shouting matches or even fights with the audience. The desires were not to unite but to agitate.
Even though it was described as fascist politics, the visual and conceptual experimentations brought about by Italian Futurism continue to inspire art movements around the globe. The idea of movement, speed, and power also prompted giving new outlets among the artists of diverse media. Futurism preconditioned Constructivism, which was oriented towards the search for the means to create art, matching technological advances and industrial design.
Communicating with the public was also a characteristic of the Futurist experience. Futurist evenings (serate futuriste) combined speech, statements, sound, and noise. Performance art and confrontation became mixed during such nights, and evenings would end with shouting matches or even fights with the audience. The desires were not to unite but to agitate.
Main Ideas and Accomplishments
Futurism opposed the inactivity of traditional art and demanded that the process of its creation be able to keep pace with the noise of the modern world. The movement preached radical mannerism vis-à-vis the creation: curse the past thoroughfare to the stream and abandon the medium to the measure of metamorphosis.
Its uncompromising way led to the prospect of interdisciplinary experimentation. Paintings, sculpture, poetic architecture, and performance were tied together. The bipolarity between forms collapsed to create a disruption in the hybrid practice of art, which embodied the spirit and explosive nature of the industrial era.
By its rhetoric that art must even more readily and vehemently go further in just to be unstable, Futurism triggered more of the questioning of what may be achieved through creativity in the 20th century, and how far it could or need to be to match the anarchy of world existence, compared to the mythologization of its ordered state.
Its uncompromising way led to the prospect of interdisciplinary experimentation. Paintings, sculpture, poetic architecture, and performance were tied together. The bipolarity between forms collapsed to create a disruption in the hybrid practice of art, which embodied the spirit and explosive nature of the industrial era.
By its rhetoric that art must even more readily and vehemently go further in just to be unstable, Futurism triggered more of the questioning of what may be achieved through creativity in the 20th century, and how far it could or need to be to match the anarchy of world existence, compared to the mythologization of its ordered state.
Passion for Progress and Dynamics
Speed, machine, and movement were also beloved in Italian Futurism. Motor cars, aeroplanes, as well as naval trains, were all to be seen as a breach of tradition. The museums and based classical forms had the opposition of the artists who required a varied visual rhythm to base their forms.
In sculpture and paintings, this was put into effect in disjunctive forms and crossing lines. Examples like Balla's “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” or Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space took the idea of motion as art, and they represented the modern era in its strength.
In sculpture and paintings, this was put into effect in disjunctive forms and crossing lines. Examples like Balla's “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash” or Boccioni's Unique Forms of Continuity in Space took the idea of motion as art, and they represented the modern era in its strength.
The Interdisciplinary Nature of the Movement
Futurism is closely linked to various other artistic forms in Italian Futurism, including music, poetry, theater, and architecture. Poets involved the fracture of syntax; musicians came up with mechanical sounds; and urban models became functional.
Futurist early performances were brief and often offensive. It was disruptive rather than storytelling. This interdisciplinary zeal helped Futurism shape the look of contemporary ingenuity in the 20th century.
Futurist early performances were brief and often offensive. It was disruptive rather than storytelling. This interdisciplinary zeal helped Futurism shape the look of contemporary ingenuity in the 20th century.
Artworks and Artists of Italian Futurism
These selected works reflect how Italian Futurism captured energy, motion, and modernity through visual form.
Carlo Carrà — "The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli" (1911)
The political funeral of Italians in Milan, seen in the paintings by Carra, represents turmoil. He conveyed the conflict between the police and mourners through the use of moving art lines and overlapping shapes. "The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli" is energetic and aggressive, and this produces the impression that the scene is immediate and sharp.
The visual art effect of layering brings the impression of a time folding into one personal and effervescent picture. The strategy of Carrà transforms the protest into a visual rhythm.
The political funeral of Italians in Milan, seen in the paintings by Carra, represents turmoil. He conveyed the conflict between the police and mourners through the use of moving art lines and overlapping shapes. "The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli" is energetic and aggressive, and this produces the impression that the scene is immediate and sharp.
The visual art effect of layering brings the impression of a time folding into one personal and effervescent picture. The strategy of Carrà transforms the protest into a visual rhythm.
Umberto Boccioni — "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" (1913)
This bounty art sculpture portrays a person walking, and the body's speed changes. Surfaces merge into each other, and sharp edges are eliminated so that all the surfaces would appear as though nothing stopped their flow.
Boccioni attempted to communicate the relationship between form and space. "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" gives a body determined by its own energy, an image of a movement brought to a solid.
This bounty art sculpture portrays a person walking, and the body's speed changes. Surfaces merge into each other, and sharp edges are eliminated so that all the surfaces would appear as though nothing stopped their flow.
Boccioni attempted to communicate the relationship between form and space. "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" gives a body determined by its own energy, an image of a movement brought to a solid.
Giacomo Balla — "Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash" (1912)
Balla also portrayed the everyday motion of a moment in time: a little dog walking through multiplying legs and tails on the canvas. The "Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash" implies a movement over time and not an instant.
Balla was inspired by photography to invent a different means of depicting movement. The outcome was a rather fun but accurate experiment into energy in our daily lives.
Balla also portrayed the everyday motion of a moment in time: a little dog walking through multiplying legs and tails on the canvas. The "Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash" implies a movement over time and not an instant.
Balla was inspired by photography to invent a different means of depicting movement. The outcome was a rather fun but accurate experiment into energy in our daily lives.
Giacomo Balla — "Speeding Train" (1912)
In the painting Speeding Train, Giacomo Balla employed his signature directional line paintings to convey the sense of movement in the portrayal of velocity. By rough lines, the picture turns into an explosion of the next move, indicating the shout of a contemporary train.
The train represented change in the march of technology and reorganization of everyday life to Balla and most other Italian Futurist artists. Technical and emotionally charged as it is, the song is also an expression of a world that is in flux.
In the painting Speeding Train, Giacomo Balla employed his signature directional line paintings to convey the sense of movement in the portrayal of velocity. By rough lines, the picture turns into an explosion of the next move, indicating the shout of a contemporary train.
The train represented change in the march of technology and reorganization of everyday life to Balla and most other Italian Futurist artists. Technical and emotionally charged as it is, the song is also an expression of a world that is in flux.
Joseph Stella — "Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras" (1913–1914)
Joseph Stella is an American artist who absorbs all the ideas concerning the Italian futurists and consequently transfers them into the language of the American cities. The composition Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras captures all the conditions of entertainment, a crowd of individuals, and light in New York, at the onset of the 20th century.
Although Stella was not an official member of the group of Italian Futurists, his paintings illustrate the main ideas of this group, i.e., fragmentation, speed, and sensorial overload. It became one of the earliest examples of Italian Futurism in American modern art.
Joseph Stella is an American artist who absorbs all the ideas concerning the Italian futurists and consequently transfers them into the language of the American cities. The composition Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras captures all the conditions of entertainment, a crowd of individuals, and light in New York, at the onset of the 20th century.
Although Stella was not an official member of the group of Italian Futurists, his paintings illustrate the main ideas of this group, i.e., fragmentation, speed, and sensorial overload. It became one of the earliest examples of Italian Futurism in American modern art.
Antonio Sant’Elia – "Città Nuova" (1914)
Architect Antonio Sant'Elia developed the art idea of the Futurist city in his project “Città Nuova”, a Futurist city that highlighted the significance of an ambitious plan for a vertical, multi-storey city. The drawings he made depicted elevators on the exterior of buildings, skybridges, and an unusual network of roads for trams, vehicles, and pedestrians.
However, the concepts of Sant'Elia never got to be actually constructed, as he ended his career during World War I in 1916. Yet, vividly throughout his conception of architecture, the Futurist dream of constructing the future with facilitated flow and swiftness is expressed.
Architect Antonio Sant'Elia developed the art idea of the Futurist city in his project “Città Nuova”, a Futurist city that highlighted the significance of an ambitious plan for a vertical, multi-storey city. The drawings he made depicted elevators on the exterior of buildings, skybridges, and an unusual network of roads for trams, vehicles, and pedestrians.
However, the concepts of Sant'Elia never got to be actually constructed, as he ended his career during World War I in 1916. Yet, vividly throughout his conception of architecture, the Futurist dream of constructing the future with facilitated flow and swiftness is expressed.
Futurism: Echoes of the Future in the Present
Futurism gave art a new vocabulary — one that responded to machines, movement, and disruption. Its artists imagined a time yet to come, and in many ways, their visual experiments anticipated the world we inhabit now.
The Italian Futurist movement reshaped how artists approached space, rhythm, and experience. It encouraged boldness, questioned conventions, and opened the door to a new kind of expression — one still unfolding today.
The Italian Futurist movement reshaped how artists approached space, rhythm, and experience. It encouraged boldness, questioned conventions, and opened the door to a new kind of expression — one still unfolding today.