Futurism
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Futurism is a modernist art movement that presented a new way for people to express themselves and the changing world around them. In contrast to realism, much of the art under this movement was abstract. Futurist artists such as Max Weber and Joseph Stella were European immigrants who brought with them their European influences to America.
While Futurism did not become prominent in the United States until after 1910, it had been around in Europe earlier. Their primary statement was that their movement would “sing… of factories suspended from the clouds…; of bridges…; of broad chested locomotives…” [1] They wanted to express the new world around them, filled with technology and machines. These new modes of transportation had yet to be depicted in art as they were more recent inventions. Though that belief was established in 1909, it would be a few years before Futurist artists in Europe such as Giacomo Balla associated their movement with dynamics and motion. This was known as “the dynamic sensation” which is the representation of the motions of rhythm of an object through art. [2]
The early 1900s in America was wrought with persistent European influences. From roughly 1750 to 1850, Europe had been engulfed in the Industrial Revolution. While the United States participated in ways such as Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793, it was not until the Civil War did it begin to feel the effects of industrialization. [3] American Futurism hoped to tell the stories of the post Industrial Revolution period. As seen in Max Weber’s and Joseph Stella’s work, Futurism included, although was not limited to, abstract city scapes, railroads, and modern architecture as a whole.
Futurism is a modernist art movement that presented a new way for people to express themselves and the changing world around them. In contrast to realism, much of the art under this movement was abstract. Futurist artists such as Max Weber and Joseph Stella were European immigrants who brought with them their European influences to America.
While Futurism did not become prominent in the United States until after 1910, it had been around in Europe earlier. Their primary statement was that their movement would “sing… of factories suspended from the clouds…; of bridges…; of broad chested locomotives…” [1] They wanted to express the new world around them, filled with technology and machines. These new modes of transportation had yet to be depicted in art as they were more recent inventions. Though that belief was established in 1909, it would be a few years before Futurist artists in Europe such as Giacomo Balla associated their movement with dynamics and motion. This was known as “the dynamic sensation” which is the representation of the motions of rhythm of an object through art. [2]
The early 1900s in America was wrought with persistent European influences. From roughly 1750 to 1850, Europe had been engulfed in the Industrial Revolution. While the United States participated in ways such as Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793, it was not until the Civil War did it begin to feel the effects of industrialization. [3] American Futurism hoped to tell the stories of the post Industrial Revolution period. As seen in Max Weber’s and Joseph Stella’s work, Futurism included, although was not limited to, abstract city scapes, railroads, and modern architecture as a whole.
_Joseph Stella
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Joseph Stella was a Futurist painter and Italian immigrant. He arrived in America in 1897 with medical aspirations, but instead became an artist. As an immigrant, he was keen upon what he saw in an industrialized New York City.[4] As a Futurist, his art was paintings were not exact, photographic images of what he was depicting. Combined, his artwork exhibits more abstract ideas about his view of urban technology than particular scenes. [5] Many of his works had ties to French Futurism as he had traveled to France multiple times before beginning his dabbling into Futurist art in New York in 1912. [6]
Joseph Stella was a Futurist painter and Italian immigrant. He arrived in America in 1897 with medical aspirations, but instead became an artist. As an immigrant, he was keen upon what he saw in an industrialized New York City.[4] As a Futurist, his art was paintings were not exact, photographic images of what he was depicting. Combined, his artwork exhibits more abstract ideas about his view of urban technology than particular scenes. [5] Many of his works had ties to French Futurism as he had traveled to France multiple times before beginning his dabbling into Futurist art in New York in 1912. [6]
Brooklyn Bridge, by Joseph Stella
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http://www.mapsites.net/gotham/webpages/gabbyl/artwork.htm
Brooklyn Bridge (1917-1918) was a painting Stella created in honor of what he considered a “shrine containing all the efforts of the new civilization of AMERICA.” [7] The bridge was so iconic to him that he saw it almost as a representation of a new religion and wanted to capture it as such. At the centerpiece, Stella put a Gothic cathedral tower as a solemn structure in this regard. The dark chaos surrounding the Gothic tower represents a change from the religion of old and that we were moving into a new unknown era littered with technological changes. [8]
http://www.mapsites.net/gotham/webpages/gabbyl/artwork.htm
Brooklyn Bridge (1917-1918) was a painting Stella created in honor of what he considered a “shrine containing all the efforts of the new civilization of AMERICA.” [7] The bridge was so iconic to him that he saw it almost as a representation of a new religion and wanted to capture it as such. At the centerpiece, Stella put a Gothic cathedral tower as a solemn structure in this regard. The dark chaos surrounding the Gothic tower represents a change from the religion of old and that we were moving into a new unknown era littered with technological changes. [8]
New York Interpreted, by Joseph Stella
_ http://studydroid.com/index.php?page=viewPack&packId=25057&begin=3
New York Interpreted (1922) was a set of paintings that Stella made to express his love of New York City. He was inspired to do so while he stood in the City and began to notice everything around him, from the ports, to the bridge, to the skyscrapers, to the subways. His first piece was aptly named The Port. This painting is riddled with wires and shows a small distant body of water in the background. The detail given to the dock emphasizes its mechanical nature. Next in the series, The White Way I, is an extremely abstract view of Times Square, exhibited by means of vibrant colors. These colors reflect the illuminations that bombard people that stand in the middle of the Square. The Skyscrapers, the middle painting, has less color, but much more natural detail. From the top down, the picture becomes progressively more abstract as the towering buildings start to blend into one another. Following that is The White Way II which reiterates the color concept of the previous White Way I. The final painting of this series, The Bridge, marks a sharp contrast compared to his older Brooklyn Bridge. The Gothic arch reference was brought back in this painting, but instead used the arches to frame the painting. The view is much less abstract as the skyscrapers in the background are significantly more prominent. Stella placed The Port and The Bridge on the outsides of the series to demonstrate movement across New York City, an important element of Futurism. [9]
New York Interpreted (1922) was a set of paintings that Stella made to express his love of New York City. He was inspired to do so while he stood in the City and began to notice everything around him, from the ports, to the bridge, to the skyscrapers, to the subways. His first piece was aptly named The Port. This painting is riddled with wires and shows a small distant body of water in the background. The detail given to the dock emphasizes its mechanical nature. Next in the series, The White Way I, is an extremely abstract view of Times Square, exhibited by means of vibrant colors. These colors reflect the illuminations that bombard people that stand in the middle of the Square. The Skyscrapers, the middle painting, has less color, but much more natural detail. From the top down, the picture becomes progressively more abstract as the towering buildings start to blend into one another. Following that is The White Way II which reiterates the color concept of the previous White Way I. The final painting of this series, The Bridge, marks a sharp contrast compared to his older Brooklyn Bridge. The Gothic arch reference was brought back in this painting, but instead used the arches to frame the painting. The view is much less abstract as the skyscrapers in the background are significantly more prominent. Stella placed The Port and The Bridge on the outsides of the series to demonstrate movement across New York City, an important element of Futurism. [9]
_Max Weber
_ Max Weber, not to be confused with the famous sociologist of
the same era, was a modernist painter. He immigrated from Europe and lived in New York City. In particular, he utilized an upcoming
art style in the early 1900s that embraced the art of machines and other new
technologies called Futurism. Weber concentrated on the trains in particular,
but used abstract depictions to prevent people from concentrating only on
specific objects. He knew that he was living in a new world where trains were now assimilated into the landscape and that the speed of travel was greater than ever before. His goal was to portray this speed using abstract landscape views of New York. In respect of his desire to avoid concentration on objects over their ideas, he does not ever draw an actual train in either New York or Rush Hour, New York as shown below respectively. [10]
New York, by Max Weber
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http://www.askart.com/AskART/W/max_weber/max_weber.aspx?ID=30102
Max Weber’s New York (1913) depicts New York City with a clear break from realism. The buildings were drawn with no particular order. They were created from various previously observed views of the city from atop a skyscraper. Thus, the focus was not on the buildings themselves, nor was it on the arcs of the Brooklyn Bridge that littered the upper part of the picture. Weber wanted to emphasize the trains that wound throughout the picture like an ethereal snake. These trains were moving around the city at such a speed that they were practically distorting time and space themselves, hence the distorted view.[11]
Max Weber’s New York (1913) depicts New York City with a clear break from realism. The buildings were drawn with no particular order. They were created from various previously observed views of the city from atop a skyscraper. Thus, the focus was not on the buildings themselves, nor was it on the arcs of the Brooklyn Bridge that littered the upper part of the picture. Weber wanted to emphasize the trains that wound throughout the picture like an ethereal snake. These trains were moving around the city at such a speed that they were practically distorting time and space themselves, hence the distorted view.[11]
Rush Hour, New York, by Max Weber
_ http://www.mariabuszek.com/kcai/AmericanTo45/Final_Gallery3.html
Max Weber’s Rush Hour, New York (1915) depicts a New York City subway tunnel. Akin to his previous work, Weber avoided any concentration on a specific visible object. The subway tunnel is broken up into zigzagging bits to represent the more rigid motions of a train (which is notably omitted from the painting). The motions in question are the starting and stopping of a train, along with the thundering of a train passing through a station. This was to express the constant motion and bustling felt by the average New Yorker twice a day during rush hour.[12]
Max Weber’s Rush Hour, New York (1915) depicts a New York City subway tunnel. Akin to his previous work, Weber avoided any concentration on a specific visible object. The subway tunnel is broken up into zigzagging bits to represent the more rigid motions of a train (which is notably omitted from the painting). The motions in question are the starting and stopping of a train, along with the thundering of a train passing through a station. This was to express the constant motion and bustling felt by the average New Yorker twice a day during rush hour.[12]
1. Danly, Susan, and Leo Marx, eds. The Railroad in American Art: Representations of Technological Change. (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1988), 128.
2. Danly and Marx, 129.
3. "Industrial Revolution." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (November 2011): 1-2. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5,
2011).
4. Danly and Marx, 132, 135.
5. Danly and Marx, 133.
6. Glazer, Diane L. 2009. "AMONG FRIENDS: ITALIAN FUTURISM COMES TO AMERICA." New Sound: International Magazine For Music no. 34: 63. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2011).
7. Danly and Marx, 135.
8. Danly and Marx, 134-135.
9. Danly and Marx, 136-137.
10. Danly and Marx, 132.
2. Danly and Marx, 129.
3. "Industrial Revolution." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (November 2011): 1-2. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 5,
2011).
4. Danly and Marx, 132, 135.
5. Danly and Marx, 133.
6. Glazer, Diane L. 2009. "AMONG FRIENDS: ITALIAN FUTURISM COMES TO AMERICA." New Sound: International Magazine For Music no. 34: 63. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2011).
7. Danly and Marx, 135.
8. Danly and Marx, 134-135.
9. Danly and Marx, 136-137.
10. Danly and Marx, 132.