Futurism was an early 20th-century avant-garde art movement that emerged in Italy, officially founded with Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s _Futurist Manifesto_ (1909). Its artists, poets, and thinkers sought to break decisively with the past, celebrating modernity, speed, technology, machines, urban life, and violent upheaval as the engines of a new cultural order. Painters such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, and Gino Severini tried to capture motion, energy, and dynamism through fractured forms and multiple perspectives, while Futurist sculptors and architects envisioned streamlined, forceful structures to embody a forward-looking society. ![[Alfredo_Gauro_Ambrosi_"Aeroritratto_di_Mussolini_aviatore".jpg]] ### **Key Traits of Futurism** - **Glorification of the machine age**: Cars, trains, aeroplanes, and industrial power became aesthetic ideals. - **Rejection of tradition**: The movement sought to destroy what it saw as stagnant cultural legacies, especially academic art and 19th-century Romanticism. - **Celebration of violence and war**: War was described by Marinetti as “the world’s only hygiene.” - **Interdisciplinary scope**: Beyond painting and sculpture, Futurism extended into literature, music, theatre, and even cuisine. ### **Connection to Fascism** The link between Futurism and fascism is both ideological and historical. - **Shared themes**: Both celebrated action, strength, nationalism, and the idea of sweeping away the old order. Futurism’s exaltation of violence, discipline, and collective mobilisation resonated strongly with fascist ideology. - **Political involvement**: Marinetti himself was an ardent nationalist and later became an early supporter of Benito Mussolini. He co-founded the Futurist Political Party (1918), which was soon absorbed into Mussolini’s Fascist Party. - **State endorsement**: Although Mussolini initially had a cautious relationship with avant-garde art, by the 1920s and 1930s Futurism became part of the cultural landscape of Fascist Italy. Certain Futurist figures contributed to official projects, festivals, and propaganda. - **Tensions**: Not all Futurists were aligned with fascism. Some artists moved away from politics or resisted state appropriation. Furthermore, fascist cultural policy also leaned on classicism and Roman revival imagery, which could clash with Futurism’s radical modernism. ### **Historical Outcome** Futurism’s close association with fascism damaged its reputation after World War II. What had once been seen as an exciting avant-garde was increasingly regarded as compromised by authoritarianism and violent ideology. Nevertheless, Futurism profoundly influenced later developments in art and design, including Constructivism, Dada, Surrealism, and aspects of modern graphic design and typography. --- `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:`