Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and social movement originating in Italy during the first decade of the 20th century. Italian writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti is credited as being the founding figure when in 1909 he launched his Futurist Manifesto. Futurism was practised in virtually every medium of the arts encompassing painting, sculpture, ceramics, interior, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, fashion, textiles, literature, music, architecture and even food. Within a matter of days the phenomenon was picked up by Le Figaro in Paris and spread within months across Europe. The entire ethos of the movement was the detestation of all things old especially in art.

The outcome of the meeting of Futurism and the British art of the day was Vorticism headed by Wyndham Lewis. Early in 1912 the first Futurist exhibition was held at the Sackville Gallery entitled ‘Exhibition of works by the Italian Futurist painters’ which was accompanied by a Marinetti lecture at a nearby hall. He caused further controversy by participating in a suffragette march. In 1913 Italian Futurist painter Gini Severini also exhibited at the Marlborough Gallery resulting in his becoming the most high profile Italian Futurist painter in England. Avant-garde British artists of the day embraced the principals of Futurism but gradually disregarded the movement as being to brash and publicity seeking. By early 1914 Lewis had set up the Rebel Art Centre but this failed to bring the sought after unification with Futurism. Although Christopher Nevinson, arguably the only true British Futurist artist was in favour of such an amalgamation, Ezra Pound coined the term Vorticism and soon the first issue of Lewis’ magazine Blast put paid to any melding of ideas. All of this resulted in arguments and Nevinson was to forced into an irreparable split with the rest of the English avant-garde.