Kentucky Balla Essay
Giacomo Balla was born July 24th, 1871 in Turin, Italy and died March 1st, 1958. His father was a photographer. He studied music as a child, but when his father died at the age 9, he decided to give that up and eventually ended up working in a lithography shop, which is a method of printing using oil and water. Upon doing this, his interest in visual arts grew. In his twenties is when he grew as an artist. He did not go to school long for any art training, but he did attend an academy and university in Turin. He then moved to Rome, which is where he ultimately lived the rest of his life and is also where he met his wife, Elisa Marcucci. French Neo-Impressionism influenced him greatly during a trip he made in Paris. When he returned home, he
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adopted a Neo-Impressionist style, and that is evident in his early works. He tried to communicate his post-Impressionist theories to different painters back in Rome as well. Also, upon looking at his earlier works, you can see his interest in rendering light and colors, which is a part of Impressionism. This is evident in The Madwoman. His style eventually moves on to Futurism and becomes the centerpiece of what he is known for. Balla has a different style than most of the artists working in his time, such as Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini. He uses many different colors and shapes in his work. In another work entitled Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, he used a method called chronophotography. This technique is from the Victorian era and it captures movement in many frames. This was considered to be a very humorous, and was one of the first paintings that involved a figure moving. He also has work that mirrors Cubism, Abstract art, Divisionism, Pointillism, and as already mentioned, Impressionism. The work that is not abstract shows how he showed interest in light and its effects. In the abstract works, it is evident that he is interested in making works that have a sense of speed to them. He does this by making directional marks as he does in Street Light. During the 1920’s, he mostly produced Futurist works and has many more of these than any other style that he did.
Balla’s Street Light is one of the many works that are included in Futurism. Futurism started as a literary movement by a poet named Filippo Marinetti, who also happened to influence Balla, and even helped to convince him to convert to Futurism. This movement happened to begin by a rebellion of young intellects against the cultural lethargy that Italy had sunk in during the 19th century. He and other artists made a manifesto in 1910. He was a key part in Futurism and taught Severini and Boccioni.
Futurism is defined as “an attempt to revive Italian culture by embracing the power and beauty: the speed, violence, and movement of modern science and new technology”. As it happens, this movement evolved from analytical Cubism in some ways, which is why some of Balla’s work resembles it. Futurists saw technology as their savior and had nothing but positivity about what it would bring to everyone’s world. They were determined to accept that they were living in the “age of the machine”. This movement is similar to the DaDa movement, but they were not looking forward to the future like the Futurists were. This movement was also interested in showing light, speed, and movement.
Street Light was made in 1909, which was when Futurism was just starting out as a movement. Balla may have made this painting in response to Marinetti’s quote: “Three hundred electric moons wiped out with their dazzling rays of chalk the ancient green queen of love.” This painting is celebrating one piece of technology that was invented: the electric street light. A way that you can tell that he is excited about the future is how there is a halo in this painting in the center. In religious paintings, there was always a halo around holy figures. In this sense, Balla could mean that technology would be their savior or that it gave them salvation. This painting shows pure Futurism, in how Balla handled a current, urban subject. He painted this using v-shaped strokes of colors that complemented each other, and this radiated from the lamp; and also made the light rays appear as colors that vibrate because of how powerful they are.
In this painting, there is a lot of movement due to the directional marks. Those same marks also give it a lot of speed. It is obvious that he painted the moon and light first because of how the colorful lights are there, while the last thing painted most likely was the colorful parts; this is his creative process for this specific painting. He made it where the colors from the light would outshine everything, which includes the moon, as well as the pole that the light is on. It is immediately clear what the focal point is supposed to be: the street light. All the directional v-shaped marks are pointing towards the light, and the moon even points to it. Although the moon is the same color as the light, the light stands out more due to all the colors around it; this gives the painting a sense of atmosphere and perspective. Without the moon, you could not tell that it is a light that belongs in the street. It helps to define it and helps to take away the flatness that would be there if the moon was not.
In the 21st century, Street Light provides an important meaning: that we should look forward to the future because it can help save us.
The way that Balla painted this could still help us today and is still used quite often. The directional marks are still used in several contemporary paintings. One artist in particular that has this in common with Balla is Silviu Oravitzan. Not all of his works have directional marks but a few do. The names of those paintings are The Rain of Light and Rune 1. They both make you look where they are pointing towards. This method that Balla used in Street Light may have inspired this artist. The way that this particular method can be used in 21st century art is using the marks in their paintings to direct the viewer to what they would like to be the focal point.
Another contemporary artist that relates to Balla’s work is Erin Hanson. There are a few of her works that relate to his by the way of choice of color palette. In Valley of Fire and Thistles on Orange, she has chosen colors that mimic the ones that represent the electric light. The method that he uses could be used in the 21st century to make more interesting paintings and ones that stand out. An artist that also uses bright colors is Theresa Paden. The painting that she uses the similar colors in is entitled Taking the
Leap.
Contemporary Canadian artist Osnat uses bright colors and her paintings give movement as well as speed, just as Balla’s. A few pieces that stood out as very similar to his is Into the Light and Speed of Success. Both paintings have lively colors. They also resemble some of Balla’s older abstract paintings such as Line of Speed and Landscape. The forms in some of her works also are comparable to his. In 21st century art, these methods are used a lot of times and can be readily applied to art making. Giving something the sense of speed will, for example, could give it a meaning that the artist wants to convey. It could also draw more viewers into trying to interpret what the meaning could be.
Giacomo Balla was an artist that was very much involved with Futurism. He even helped to define it by writing the manifesto. His work is the epitome of what Futurism is all about: celebrating the new technology and what it gave them. One of his paintings, Street Light was at the beginning of this important movement. This painting encompassed the style of Futurism by capturing speed, light, and movement. Balla, of course, added his own style to the painting by using the bright colors and the colorful v-shaped marks. Those marks are what add movement and speed as well as what captures everyone’s attention. He continued working on Futurist works for the rest of his life.
adopted a Neo-Impressionist style, and that is evident in his early works. He tried to communicate his post-Impressionist theories to different painters back in Rome as well. Also, upon looking at his earlier works, you can see his interest in rendering light and colors, which is a part of Impressionism. This is evident in The Madwoman. His style eventually moves on to Futurism and becomes the centerpiece of what he is known for. Balla has a different style than most of the artists working in his time, such as Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini. He uses many different colors and shapes in his work. In another work entitled Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, he used a method called chronophotography. This technique is from the Victorian era and it captures movement in many frames. This was considered to be a very humorous, and was one of the first paintings that involved a figure moving. He also has work that mirrors Cubism, Abstract art, Divisionism, Pointillism, and as already mentioned, Impressionism. The work that is not abstract shows how he showed interest in light and its effects. In the abstract works, it is evident that he is interested in making works that have a sense of speed to them. He does this by making directional marks as he does in Street Light. During the 1920’s, he mostly produced Futurist works and has many more of these than any other style that he did.
Balla’s Street Light is one of the many works that are included in Futurism. Futurism started as a literary movement by a poet named Filippo Marinetti, who also happened to influence Balla, and even helped to convince him to convert to Futurism. This movement happened to begin by a rebellion of young intellects against the cultural lethargy that Italy had sunk in during the 19th century. He and other artists made a manifesto in 1910. He was a key part in Futurism and taught Severini and Boccioni.
Futurism is defined as “an attempt to revive Italian culture by embracing the power and beauty: the speed, violence, and movement of modern science and new technology”. As it happens, this movement evolved from analytical Cubism in some ways, which is why some of Balla’s work resembles it. Futurists saw technology as their savior and had nothing but positivity about what it would bring to everyone’s world. They were determined to accept that they were living in the “age of the machine”. This movement is similar to the DaDa movement, but they were not looking forward to the future like the Futurists were. This movement was also interested in showing light, speed, and movement.
Street Light was made in 1909, which was when Futurism was just starting out as a movement. Balla may have made this painting in response to Marinetti’s quote: “Three hundred electric moons wiped out with their dazzling rays of chalk the ancient green queen of love.” This painting is celebrating one piece of technology that was invented: the electric street light. A way that you can tell that he is excited about the future is how there is a halo in this painting in the center. In religious paintings, there was always a halo around holy figures. In this sense, Balla could mean that technology would be their savior or that it gave them salvation. This painting shows pure Futurism, in how Balla handled a current, urban subject. He painted this using v-shaped strokes of colors that complemented each other, and this radiated from the lamp; and also made the light rays appear as colors that vibrate because of how powerful they are.
In this painting, there is a lot of movement due to the directional marks. Those same marks also give it a lot of speed. It is obvious that he painted the moon and light first because of how the colorful lights are there, while the last thing painted most likely was the colorful parts; this is his creative process for this specific painting. He made it where the colors from the light would outshine everything, which includes the moon, as well as the pole that the light is on. It is immediately clear what the focal point is supposed to be: the street light. All the directional v-shaped marks are pointing towards the light, and the moon even points to it. Although the moon is the same color as the light, the light stands out more due to all the colors around it; this gives the painting a sense of atmosphere and perspective. Without the moon, you could not tell that it is a light that belongs in the street. It helps to define it and helps to take away the flatness that would be there if the moon was not.
In the 21st century, Street Light provides an important meaning: that we should look forward to the future because it can help save us.
The way that Balla painted this could still help us today and is still used quite often. The directional marks are still used in several contemporary paintings. One artist in particular that has this in common with Balla is Silviu Oravitzan. Not all of his works have directional marks but a few do. The names of those paintings are The Rain of Light and Rune 1. They both make you look where they are pointing towards. This method that Balla used in Street Light may have inspired this artist. The way that this particular method can be used in 21st century art is using the marks in their paintings to direct the viewer to what they would like to be the focal point.
Another contemporary artist that relates to Balla’s work is Erin Hanson. There are a few of her works that relate to his by the way of choice of color palette. In Valley of Fire and Thistles on Orange, she has chosen colors that mimic the ones that represent the electric light. The method that he uses could be used in the 21st century to make more interesting paintings and ones that stand out. An artist that also uses bright colors is Theresa Paden. The painting that she uses the similar colors in is entitled Taking the
Leap.
Contemporary Canadian artist Osnat uses bright colors and her paintings give movement as well as speed, just as Balla’s. A few pieces that stood out as very similar to his is Into the Light and Speed of Success. Both paintings have lively colors. They also resemble some of Balla’s older abstract paintings such as Line of Speed and Landscape. The forms in some of her works also are comparable to his. In 21st century art, these methods are used a lot of times and can be readily applied to art making. Giving something the sense of speed will, for example, could give it a meaning that the artist wants to convey. It could also draw more viewers into trying to interpret what the meaning could be.
Giacomo Balla was an artist that was very much involved with Futurism. He even helped to define it by writing the manifesto. His work is the epitome of what Futurism is all about: celebrating the new technology and what it gave them. One of his paintings, Street Light was at the beginning of this important movement. This painting encompassed the style of Futurism by capturing speed, light, and movement. Balla, of course, added his own style to the painting by using the bright colors and the colorful v-shaped marks. Those marks are what add movement and speed as well as what captures everyone’s attention. He continued working on Futurist works for the rest of his life.