Giacomo Balla

The founder of European Futurism and one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century in Italy. The main thing in his painting is the sense of movement, which the artist tried to convey first with the help of pointillism invented by Georges Seurat, and later with his own methods and finds in art.

Giacomo Balla became the author of the first paintings depicting various objects in dynamics; his deep knowledge of the art of photography helped him. The artist shared his discoveries with his students Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini, with whom he proclaimed the manifesto of Futurism in 1910.

Balla’s paintings entered the history of fine art as the first attempts to reproduce the dynamics of real life. Based on his work, the first animated films were created. The decomposition of objects, which the artist himself called “moving light”, opened a direct path to non-point forms leading to complete abstraction.

The post-war creations of the artist were close to abstraction; they became less rapid but more saturated in colour. Balla also became one of the founders of “aero painting” – a short-term movement in the visual arts, the purpose of which was to reflect the feeling of fly and weightlessness.

In addition to the works of fine art, the painter created futuristic sculptures, theatrical scenery and costumes, as well as various design objects. His work served as the basis for the development of Abstract art.

Key ideas:

– He tried to depict light, movement and sound. The basis for his experiments was work in the field of photography, the so-called “studies of movement” by photographers J.E. Marie and E. Maybridge. Balla tried to simultaneously convey the various phases of movement, which is most clearly expressed in his paintings of 1912-13.

– To achieve his goal, he used the method of “simultaneity.” This technique implies the depiction of movement as a series of the positions of the object at different times transmitted simultaneously. Thus, the movement was transmitted fragmentarily, “frame by frame”.

– Technical progress, the modern rhythm of life, urban civilization, the frantic speed of a racing car – the artist was interested in all these aspects. Like his fellow futurists, he admired the world of cars and glorified the energy of modern life.

– Unlike other members of the Futurist group, Balla did not represent a person in the form of a mechanical creature made of metal. His compositions are concentrated on the very phenomenon of movement and light, no matter who produces it – a girl running into the balcony or a car passing by.

– Balla paid much attention to lighting effects. Many of his works are attempts to decompose the light into separate components and understand the very essence of this phenomenon. Such decomposition, according to the artist’s definition, “moving light”, led him through the synthesis of non-figurative elements to abstraction.

– In the early 1920s, he became interested in spiritualism, which had a great influence on his art. His abstract paintings filled with mysterious and mystical meanings are closer in style and theme to metaphysical painting. With original pictorial means, Balla tried to convey the phenomenon of cosmic radiation, communication with other worlds, otherworldly forces.