This is a modern art movement originating among Italian artists in 1909, when Filippo Marinetti’s first manifesto of futurism appeared, until the end of World War I. Futurism was a celebration of the machine age, glorifying war and favouring the growth of fascism. Futurist painting and sculpture were especially concerned with expressing movement and the dynamics of natural and man-made forms. Some of these ideas, including the use of modern materials and technique, were taken up later by Marcel Duchamp (French, 1887-1968), the cubists, and the constructivists.
Futurism was largely inspired by the development of Cubism. The name Futurism, coined by Marinetti, reflected his emphasis on discarding what he conceived to be the static and irrelevant art of the past and celebrating change, originality, and innovation in culture and society. Marinetti’s manifesto glorified the new technology of the automobile and the beauty of its speed, power, and movement. He exalted violence and conflict and called for the sweeping repudiation of traditional cultural, social, and political values and the destruction of such cultural institutions as museums and libraries. The manifesto’s rhetoric was passionately bombastic; its tone was aggressive and inflammatory and was purposely intended to inspire public anger and amazement, to arouse controversy, and to attract widespread attention.
Movement in art, music, and literature begun in Italy about 1910 and marked especially by an effort to give formal expression to the dynamic energy and movement of mechanical processes.
Futurism was an was (and is) a refreshing contrast to the weepy sentimentalism of Romanticism. The Futurists loved speed, noise, machines, pollution, and cities; they embraced the exciting new world that was then upon them rather than hypocritically enjoying the modern world’s comforts while loudly denouncing the forces that made them possible. Fearing and attacking technology has become almost second nature to many people today; the Futurist manifestos show us an alternative philosophy.
Too bad they were all Fascists.