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Giacomo Balla

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Giacomo Balla
Giacomo Balla, Artistaplástico, Archivo del 900, MART, Rovereto.jpg
Born
Giacomo Joseph Balla

(1871-07-18)18 July 1871
Turin, Italy
Died1 March 1958(1958-03-01) (aged 86)
Rome, Italy
Known forPainting, poetry
MovementFuturism

Giacomo Balla (18 July 1871 – 1 March 1958) was an Italian painter, art teacher and poet best known as a key proponent of Futurism. In his paintings he depicted light, movement and speed. He was concerned with expressing movement in his works, but unlike other leading futurists he was not interested in machines or violence with his works tending towards the witty and whimsical.[1]

Biography

Giacomo Balla was born in Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. He was the son of a photographer[2] and as a child studied music.

At age nine, after the death of his father, he gave up music and began working in a lithograph print shop. By age 20, his interest in visual art had developed to such a level that he decided to study painting at local academies, and several of his early works were shown at exhibitions. Following academic studies at the University of Turin, Balla moved to Rome in 1895, where he met and later married Elisa Marcucci. For several years he worked in Rome as an illustrator, caricaturist and portrait painter. In 1899, his work was exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and in the ensuing years his art was shown at major exhibitions in Rome and Venice, as well as in Munich, Berlin and Düsseldorf, at the Salon d'Automne in Paris, and at galleries in Rotterdam.

Giacomo Balla, 1912, Dinamismo di un Cane al Guinzaglio (Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash), Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Giacomo Balla, 1912, Dinamismo di un Cane al Guinzaglio (Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash), Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Around 1902, he taught Divisionist techniques to Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini.[3] Influenced by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Giacomo Balla adopted the Futurism style, creating a pictorial depiction of light, movement and speed. He was a signatory of the Futurist Manifesto in 1910. Typical for his new style of painting is Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912) and his 1914 work Abstract Speed + Sound (Velocità astratta + rumore). In 1914, he began to design Futurist furniture, as well as so-called Futurist "antineutral" clothing.[4] Balla also began working as a sculptor, creating, in 1915, the well-known work titled Boccioni's Fist, based on 'lines of force' (Linee di forza del pugno di Boccioni).[5]

During World War I, Balla's studio became a meeting place for young artists.

In 1935, he was made a member of Rome's Accademia di San Luca.

In 1955, Balla participated in the documenta 1 in Kassel.

He died on 1 March 1958.

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Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the Po River, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 847,287 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.

Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is a region of Northwest Italy, one of the 20 regions of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east and the Aosta Valley region to the northwest; it also borders Switzerland to the northeast and France to the west. It has an area of 25,402 km2 (9,808 sq mi) making it the second largest region of Italy after Sicily and a population of 4,269,714 as of 31 January 2021. The capital of Piedmont is Turin.

Italy

Italy

Italy, officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands; its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione, and some islands in the African Plate. Italy covers an area of 301,230 km2 (116,310 sq mi), with a population of about 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome.

Lithography

Lithography

Lithography is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German author and actor Alois Senefelder and was initially used mostly for musical scores and maps. Lithography can be used to print text or images onto paper or other suitable material. A lithograph is something printed by lithography, but this term is only used for fine art prints and some other, mostly older, types of printed matter, not for those made by modern commercial lithography.

University of Turin

University of Turin

The University of Turin is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an important role in research and training. It is steadily ranked among the top 5 Italian universities and it is ranked third for research activities in Italy, according to the latest data by ANVUR.

Salon d'Automne

Salon d'Automne

The Salon d'Automne, or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The first Salon d'Automne was created in 1903 by Frantz Jourdain, with Hector Guimard, George Desvallières, Eugène Carrière, Félix Vallotton, Édouard Vuillard, Eugène Chigot and Maison Jansen.

Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach to the dynamism of form and the deconstruction of solid mass guided artists long after his death. His works are held by many public art museums, and in 1988 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City organized a major retrospective of 100 pieces.

Gino Severini

Gino Severini

Gino Severini was an Italian painter and a leading member of the Futurist movement. For much of his life he divided his time between Paris and Rome. He was associated with neo-classicism and the "return to order" in the decade after the First World War. During his career he worked in a variety of media, including mosaic and fresco. He showed his work at major exhibitions, including the Rome Quadrennial, and won art prizes from major institutions.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye de Créteil between 1907 and 1908. Marinetti is best known as the author of the first Futurist Manifesto, which was written and published in 1909, and as a co-author of the Fascist Manifesto, in 1919.

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, sometimes called Dog on a Leash or Leash in Motion, is a 1912 painting by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla. It was influenced by the artist's fascination with chronophotographic studies of animals in motion. It is considered one of his best-known works, and one of the most important works in Futurism, though it received mixed critical reviews. The painting has been in the collection of the Albright–Knox Art Gallery since 1984.

Abstract Speed + Sound

Abstract Speed + Sound

Abstract Speed + Sound is a painting by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, one of several studies of motion created by the artist in 1913–14. The painting may be the second in a triptych narrating the passage of a racing car through a landscape, beginning with Abstract Speed (1913) and ending with Abstract Speed—The Car Has Passed (1913). The three paintings share indications of a single landscape, and each painting is continued onto its frame.

Documenta 1

Documenta 1

The first Documenta took place between 15 July and 18 September 1955 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic director was Arnold Bode. It was considered the largest and most extensive exhibition of modern art in West Germany since the end of the Second World War.

Notable works

Balla's 1909 painting The Street Light typifies his exploration of light, atmosphere, and motion.[6]

Balla's most famous works, such as his 1912 Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, aim to express movement – and thus the passage of time – through the medium of painting. One of Balla's main inspirations was the chronophotography of Étienne-Jules Marey.[7][8][9]

Balla's 1912 The Hand of the Violinist depicts the frenetic motion of a musician playing, and draws on inspiration from Cubism and the photographic experiments of Marey and Eadweard Muybridge.[10] [11]

In his abstract 1912–1914 series Iridescent Interpenetration, Balla attempts to separate the experience of light from the perception of objects as such.[12]

Abstract Speed + Sound (1913–14) is a study of speed symbolised by the automobile. Originally, it may have been part of a triptych.[13]

Balla's 1914 series Mercury Passing Before the Sun depicts the November 17, 1914 transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. Balla created at least a dozen versions and studies of this work.

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List of works by Giacomo Balla

List of works by Giacomo Balla

The following is a list of works by Futurist artist Giacomo Balla.

Street Light (painting)

Street Light (painting)

Street Light is a painting by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, dated 1909, depicting an electric street lamp casting a glow that outshines the crescent moon. The painting was inspired by streetlights at the Piazza Termini in Rome.

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, sometimes called Dog on a Leash or Leash in Motion, is a 1912 painting by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla. It was influenced by the artist's fascination with chronophotographic studies of animals in motion. It is considered one of his best-known works, and one of the most important works in Futurism, though it received mixed critical reviews. The painting has been in the collection of the Albright–Knox Art Gallery since 1984.

Chronophotography

Chronophotography

Chronophotography is a photographic technique from the Victorian era which captures a number of phases of movements. The best known chronophotography works were mostly intended for the scientific study of locomotion, to discover practical information for animal handlers and/or as reference material for artists. Although many results were not intended to be exhibited as moving pictures, there is much overlap with the more or less simultaneous quest to register and exhibit photographic motion pictures.

Étienne-Jules Marey

Étienne-Jules Marey

Étienne-Jules Marey was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer.

The Hand of the Violinist

The Hand of the Violinist

The Hand of the Violinist is a 1912 painting by Italian Futurist Giacomo Balla, depicting a musician's hand and the neck of a violin "made to look like it's vibrating through space"—blurred and duplicated to suggest the motion of frenetic playing. The painting, representative of Futurism's first wave, exhibits techniques of Divisionism.

Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first name "Eadweard" as the original Anglo-Saxon form of "Edward", and the surname "Muybridge", believing it to be similarly archaic.

Iridescent Interpenetration

Iridescent Interpenetration

Iridescent Interpenetration is the title of several artworks and studies in a series by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, created between 1912 and 1914, which feature intersecting triangles and other geometric patterns in kaleidoscopic color.

Abstract Speed + Sound

Abstract Speed + Sound

Abstract Speed + Sound is a painting by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, one of several studies of motion created by the artist in 1913–14. The painting may be the second in a triptych narrating the passage of a racing car through a landscape, beginning with Abstract Speed (1913) and ending with Abstract Speed—The Car Has Passed (1913). The three paintings share indications of a single landscape, and each painting is continued onto its frame.

Triptych

Triptych

A triptych is a work of art that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry.

Mercury Passing Before the Sun

Mercury Passing Before the Sun

Mercury Passing Before the Sun is the title of a series of paintings by Italian Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, depicting the November 17, 1914 transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun.

Legacy

In 1987, some of his artworks were exhibited at documenta 8, an exhibition of modern art and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.

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Documenta

Documenta

Documenta is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.

Modern art

Modern art

Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation. Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency away from the narrative, which was characteristic for the traditional arts, toward abstraction is characteristic of much modern art. More recent artistic production is often called contemporary art or postmodern art.

Contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue the challenging of boundaries that was already well underway in the 20th century. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organising principle, ideology, or "-ism". Contemporary art is part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, family, community, and nationality.

Kassel

Kassel

Kassel is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kassel is also known for the documenta exhibitions of contemporary art. Kassel has a public university with 25,000 students (2018) and a multicultural population.

Source: "Giacomo Balla", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, April 10th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giacomo_Balla.

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References
  1. ^ Norwich, John Julius (1985–1993). Oxford illustrated encyclopedia. Judge, Harry George., Toyne, Anthony. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-19-869129-7. OCLC 11814265.
  2. ^ Barnes, Rachel (2001). The 20th-Century art book (Reprinted. ed.). London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 0714835420.
  3. ^ Coen, Ester (1989). Umberto Boccioni. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 272. ISBN 0870995227. OCLC 801992681.
  4. ^ Il vestito antineutrale : manifesto futurista, Direzione del Movimento futurista, 1914
  5. ^ Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco, Balla, the futurist, Rizzoli, 1988, ISBN 0847809196
  6. ^ "Giacomo Balla (1871-1958)". Encyclopedia of Visual Artists. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Giacomo Balla". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  8. ^ Lubbock, Tom (September 3, 2009). "Great Works: Dynamism of A Dog on a Leash (1912) Giacomo Balla". The Independent. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  9. ^ Marta Braun: Giacomo Balla, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, and Etienne-Jules Marey. In: Vivien Greene (ed.): Italian Futurism 1909 - 1944. Reconstructing the Universe, Guggenheim Museum 2014, p.95-101 Braun states (p.96): "For Balla, perhaps the most photo-literate of the Futurist painters, both Marey's scientific analyses and Bragaglia's blurred trajectories presented an opportunity to move beyond his earlier, more realistic works."
  10. ^ Bertrand, Sandra (July 24, 2014). "Invasion of the Italian Futurists". Highbrow Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  11. ^ Greenwald, Xico (April 22, 2014). "Back to the Futurism". New York Sun. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  12. ^ Poggi, Christine (2009). "Photogenic Abstraction: Giacomo Balla's Iridescent Interpenetrations". Inventing Futurism: The Art and Politics of Artificial Optimism. Princeton University Press. pp. 109–149. ISBN 9780691133706.
  13. ^ "Giacomo Balla: Abstract Speed + Sound (Velocità astratta + rumore)". Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
Further reading
  • Maurizio Fagiolo Dell'Arco, Balla: The Futurist (1988)
  • Vivien Greene (ed.): Italian Futurism 1909 - 1944. Reconstructing the Universe, Guggenheim Museum 2014, ISBN 978-0-89207-499-0
  • Giovanni Lista, Balla, catalogue général de l’œuvre, vol. I, Edizioni della Galleria Fonte d’Abisso, Modène, 1982 ; vol. II, L’Age d’Homme, Lausanne, 1984
  • Giovanni Lista,Le Futurisme : création et avant-garde, Éditions L’Amateur, Paris, 2001
  • Giovanni Lista, Balla, la modernità futurista, Edizioni Skira, Milan, 2008
  • Giovanni Lista, Giacomo Balla: futurismo e neofuturismo, Mudima, Milano, 2009.
  • Giacomo Balla, Scritti futuristi, raccolti e curati da Giovanni Lista, Abscondita, Milan, 2010.
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