The Collection - Estorick Collection - London

It is perhaps best known for its outstanding core of Futurist works. Founded in 1909 by the poet F. T. Marinetti, Futurism was Italy’s most significant contribution to twentieth-century European culture. Marinetti wanted to break with the oppressive weight of Italy’s cultural heritage and develop an aesthetic based on modern life and technology, particularly speed and the machine. His impassioned polemic immediately attracted the support of the young Milanese painters Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà and Luigi Russolo, who wanted to extend Marinetti’s ideas to the visual arts. They were joined by the painters Gino Severini and Giacomo Balla, and together these artists represented Futurism’s first phase. The acknowledged Futurist masterpieces of the Collection are drawn from this pioneering period (1909-16) and include Boccioni’s Modern Idol, Carrà’s Leaving the Theatre, Russolo’s Music, Severini’s The Boulevard and Balla’s The Hand of the Violinist.

However, many other artists whose work features in the Collection were not associated with this movement at all. These include Amedeo Modigliani – famous for his graceful, elongated portraits and figure studies – who is represented by a fine series of drawings and the late oil portrait of Dr François Brabander. Giorgio de Chirico, the founder of Metaphysical Art, whose enigmatic, dreamlike imagery was to exert a profound influence on the Surrealists, is represented by the important early work The Revolt of the Sage. Go to Website

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