Bodies in Motion

Italian sculptor Umberto Boccioni (uhm-BEHR-toh boh-CHO-nee) was a leader of the Italian Futurism movement. He and the other futurists explored the modern world and its new technologies in their artwork. Boccioni depicted the energy and speed of early 20th-century life in his paintings and sculptures, breaking with the traditions of classical sculpture to do so.

In his 1913 bronze sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, above, Boccioni sculpts a figure stepping forward, leaning into space—and the future.

The artist creates an abstracted version of the figure’s musculature, with flame-like shapes blazing from the ankles and torso. Light plays across the gleaming, polished bronze surface, suggesting both speed and action. But at the base of the sculpture, Boccioni presents a contradiction—heavy blocks attached to the feet seem to weigh the figure down, slowing (or even stopping) its progress.

What do you think Boccioni might be saying about movement, technology, and modern life?

Umberto Boccioni (uhm- BEHR-toh boh-CHO-nee) was an Italian sculptor. He was also a leader of the Italian Futurism movement. Futurists used art to explore the modern world and technology. They often broke with tradition. Boccioni’s paintings and sculptures showed the increasing speed of life in the early 1900s.

The 1913 bronze sculpture above is called Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. Boccioni sculpts a figure stepping forward. It leans into space—and the future.

Unlike in The Thinker, this figure’s muscles are more abstract. Their flame-like shapes stick out from the ankles and torso. Light bounces across the polished bronze surface. This creates a sense of speed and action. At the base of the sculpture, heavy blocks weigh down the figure’s feet.

Alberto Giacometti (ahl-BEHR-toh jah-kuh-MEH-tee), a 20th-century Swiss artist, experimented with form and texture. In works like Three Men Walking II, above, he elongates the figures, stretching them to strange proportions. The roughly textured limbs and torsos are sticklike, with nearly flat discs to represent their heads and hands.

Giacometti began making these elongated figures when much of Europe was recovering from World War II’s devastation. Many art historians believe these sculptures reflect the alienation and isolation people felt during this period. Notice how Giacometti arranges the figures in the 1949 sculpture shown here. Their paths are about to cross, but they do not acknowledge one another.

Alberto Giacometti (ahl- BEHR-toh jah-kuh-MEH-tee) was a 20th-century Swiss artist. He experimented with form and texture. Look at his 1949 sculpture Three Men Walking II, above. Giacometti stretches the figures to strange proportions. He gives the limbs and torsos a rough texture. He creates the heads and hands with flat discs.

Giacometti began making these elongated figures soon after World War II. Experts think these sculptures reflect the loneliness people felt at this time. Notice how Giacometti arranges the figures. They cross paths, but they don’t look at each other.