Futurism was an artistic and cultural movement that began in Italy in the early 1900s. It also appeared in other countries, though less so. The movement focused on themes like energy, speed, technology, youth, and modern objects such as cars, airplanes, and cities. Important people in Futurism included Italian artists Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Fortunato Depero, Gino Severini, Giacomo Balla, and Luigi Russolo. Italian Futurism celebrated modern life and aimed to free Italy from its past. Key works from the movement include Marinetti’s 1909 Manifesto of Futurism, Boccioni’s 1913 sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Balla’s 1913–1914 painting Abstract Speed + Sound, and Russolo’s The Art of Noises (1913).
Although Futurism was strongest in Italy, similar movements also appeared in the Russian Empire, where some Russian artists formed their own groups. Other countries had fewer Futurists or were influenced by the movement. Futurists created art in many forms, including painting, sculpture, design, theater, film, literature, music, and architecture.
Futurism affected other art movements, such as Art Deco, Constructivism, Surrealism, and Dada. It had a stronger influence on Precisionism, Rayonism, and Vorticism. Passéism [fr] represents a different idea that opposes Futurism.
Italian Futurism
Futurism was an innovative art movement started in Milan, Italy, in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, an Italian poet and art theorist. Marinetti introduced the movement in his "Manifesto of Futurism," which he first published on February 5, 1909, in La gazzetta dell'Emilia, an Italian newspaper. Later, the manifesto was printed in the French newspaper Le Figaro on February 20, 1909. Marinetti was soon joined by artists such as Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini, and composer Luigi Russolo. Marinetti strongly disliked old traditions, especially in politics and art, and declared, "We want no part of it, the past… we the young and strong Futurists!" The Futurists admired speed, technology, youth, violence, cars, airplanes, and the industrial city. They believed these represented humanity’s triumph over nature and were proud Italian nationalists. They celebrated modern life, rejected the past, praised originality, and criticized art critics. They also rejected traditional art themes and valued science.
Writing manifestos was a key part of Futurism. Marinetti and other Futurists wrote manifestos on many topics, including painting, music, literature, and fashion. In their manifestos, they criticized traditional Italian Renaissance art and argued that people should not admire old artworks. According to the Manifesto of the Futurist Painters (1910), the Futurists wanted to fight against the "religion of the past" and the "spineless admiration" for old art. They believed art should reflect modern life’s wonders, just as earlier artists drew inspiration from religious themes.
The first manifesto did not provide a clear artistic plan, which the Futurists later developed in their Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting (1910). This manifesto focused on "universal dynamism," meaning that art should show movement and energy. The Futurists believed objects in reality are not separate but connected to their surroundings. For example, in a moving bus, people and buildings seem to blend together as they move.
Futurist painters took time to develop their unique style. In 1910 and 1911, they used a technique called Divisionism, which involved breaking light and color into small dots and stripes, a method inspired by artist Giovanni Segantini. Later, Severini, who lived in Paris, said the Futurists lagged in style because they were far from Paris, the center of avant-garde art. Cubism also influenced Futurist art. Severini was the first to learn about Cubism, and after visiting Paris in 1911, Futurist painters adopted Cubist methods to show energy and movement in their work.
Futurist painters often depicted modern urban scenes. Carrà’s Funeral of the Anarchist Galli (1910–1911) shows a chaotic police attack and riot, using sharp diagonals and broken shapes. His Leaving the Theatre (1910–1911) uses Divisionist techniques to show faceless figures walking home under streetlights.
Boccioni’s The City Rises (1910) shows construction workers and a large red horse, symbolizing the struggle between humans and machines. Boccioni was influenced by French philosopher Henri Bergson, who emphasized intuition—the ability to deeply understand an object’s essence. Boccioni wrote about these ideas in his book Futurist Painting Sculpture: Plastic Dynamism (1914). His States of Mind (1911) combines Bergson’s ideas, Cubism, and modern life to show feelings and sensations through "lines of force," "simultaneity," and "emotional ambience."
Francesco Filippini, a painter known for rural landscapes, influenced Boccioni’s early work. Filippini’s use of horizontal compositions, female figures in nature, and atmospheric light inspired Boccioni before he joined Futurism.
Balla’s Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912) shows a dog and a woman walking, with blurred legs and a leash to suggest movement. This painting reflects the Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting, which describes how moving objects appear to multiply in the eye. His Hand of the Violinist (1912) uses rapid brushstrokes in a triangular frame to show a violinist’s hand in motion.
Cubism greatly shaped Futurist painting, especially in the works of Boccioni and Severini, who used broken colors and short brushstrokes to express movement and energy.
Russian Futurism
Russian Futurism was a movement in literature and visual arts that included several groups. During the 1920s, the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers worked with Russian Futurists, who believed in the "Literature of Fact" theory. This theory suggested that Soviet art could show progress through writing. Important writers in the movement included Vladimir Mayakovsky, Velimir Khlebnikov, and Aleksei Kruchyonykh. Visual artists like David Burliuk, Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova, Lyubov Popova, and Kazimir Malevich were also part of the movement. These artists and writers often worked together, such as in the Futurist opera Victory Over the Sun, which had texts by Kruchyonykh, music by Mikhail Matyushin, and sets by Malevich.
The main painting style of the movement was Cubo-Futurism, which was popular in the 1910s. This style combined ideas from Cubism with Futurist themes, such as movement and the fast pace of modern city life. Like Italian Futurists, Russian artists were interested in speed and energy, but they disagreed with Italian views on politics. Many Russian Futurists supported the communist movement in Russia.
The Russian Futurists wanted to challenge traditional ideas by rejecting old art. They said famous writers like Pushkin and Dostoevsky should be "thrown off the ship of modernity." They refused to follow any rules or accept influence from others, even from Italian Futurist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. They opposed Marinetti’s support for fascism and stopped him from spreading his ideas in Russia in 1914.
The movement weakened after the 1917 revolution. Some Futurists stayed in Russia, others were punished, and some left the country. Natalia Goncharova, Mayakovsky, and Malevich became part of the Soviet government and the short-lived Agitprop movement of the 1920s. Goncharova died from an illness, Malevich was briefly imprisoned and forced to paint in a style approved by the state, and Mayakovsky died by suicide on April 14, 1930.
Architecture
Antonio Sant'Elia, a Futurist architect, shared his ideas about modern life through his drawings for La Città Nuova (The New City) between 1912 and 1914. This project was never built, and Sant'Elia died during World War I. However, his ideas inspired later architects and artists. The city he imagined became a setting for the fast-paced, exciting life of the Futurist movement. It replaced natural landscapes as the main place for modern living. Sant'Elia wanted to design a city that worked like a machine, focusing on speed and efficiency. He used light and shapes to highlight the strong, simple forms of his buildings. He removed complex curves and decorations to show the basic, clean lines of his designs. In his vision, all parts of life would be organized and controlled, centered around a single source of energy. The city was meant to be temporary, with each future generation creating its own city instead of using old buildings.
Some Futurist architects disagreed with the Fascist government's preference for classical designs inspired by ancient Rome. Despite this, many Futurist buildings were constructed between 1920 and 1940. These included public structures like train stations, seaside resorts, and post offices. Examples of Futurist buildings still in use today are the Trento train station, designed by Angiolo Mazzoni, and the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence. The Florence station was created in 1932 by the Gruppo Toscano (Tuscan Group), a team of architects that included Giovanni Michelucci and Italo Gamberini. Angiolo Mazzoni also contributed to its design.
Music
Futurist music rejected traditional styles and used new, unusual sounds inspired by machines. This style influenced many composers in the 20th century.
Francesco Balilla Pratella joined the Futurist movement in 1910 and wrote a document called the Manifesto of Futurist Musicians. In it, he tried to reach young people, as had Marinetti, because he believed only they could understand his ideas. Pratella thought Italian music was not as strong as music from other countries. He admired the work of composers like Wagner, Strauss, Elgar, Mussorgsky, and Sibelius. He criticized Italian symphonies for being dominated by opera, which he called an "absurd and anti-musical form." He also blamed music schools and publishers for promoting unoriginal and average music, especially the operas of Puccini and Giordano. The only Italian composer Pratella praised was his teacher, Pietro Mascagni, who had tried to innovate in opera. Even Mascagni, however, was too traditional for Pratella. In response to the lack of creativity and old-fashioned ideas in Italian music, Pratella raised "the red flag of Futurism," calling young composers to join his movement.
Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) wrote The Art of Noises in 1913, a significant text about music in the 20th century. Russolo created instruments called intonarumori, which were devices that made and controlled sounds like those from machines. In 1914, Russolo and Marinetti performed the first concert of Futurist music using these instruments. However, the outbreak of war prevented them from performing in many major European cities.
Futurism was one of several 20th-century art and music movements that celebrated machines. Ferruccio Busoni is sometimes linked to Futurist ideas, though he stayed connected to traditional music. Russolo’s intonarumori influenced composers such as Stravinsky, Honegger, Antheil, Varèse, Stockhausen, and Cage. For example, Honegger’s Pacific 231 imitated the sound of a steam train. Futurist ideas also appear in Prokofiev’s The Steel Step and his Second Symphony.
One of the most notable figures influenced by Futurism was American artist George Antheil. His interest in machines is clear in works like his Airplane Sonata, Death of the Machines, and the 30-minute Ballet Mécanique. Ballet Mécanique was originally meant to accompany a film by Fernand Léger, but the music is twice as long as the film and now stands alone. The piece requires a group of percussionists to play three xylophones, four bass drums, a tam-tam, three airplane propellers, seven electric bells, a siren, two live pianists, and sixteen player pianos that play together in time. Antheil’s work was the first to combine machines and human performers, showing how each could create different types of music.
Dance
The Futuristic movement affected how people thought about dance. Dancing was seen as a way to show how humans and machines could become one. Features like the height of a flying plane, the strength of a car’s engine, and the loud sounds of machines were seen as signs of human skill and success. Dance was expected to highlight and celebrate these ideas. This type of dance is called Futuristic because it changes the traditional ways of classical dance and introduces a new style for people who enjoyed refined art. In traditional ballet, dancers tell stories with clear meanings, but Futuristic dance does not follow this pattern. One important Futuristic dancer was Giannina Censi, an Italian artist. She was inspired by themes about flying from the second wave of Futurism and brought these ideas to the stage. Trained as a classical ballerina, she created performances called "Aerodanze" and continued to work in both classical and popular dance shows. She described her style as a result of working closely with Marinetti, a poet:
"I shared the idea of aerial-futurist poetry with Marinetti, who read his poems aloud. On a small stage, I wore a satin costume and a helmet. My body showed the actions of a plane, like wings that moved and parts of the machine that trembled. My face showed what a pilot might feel."
In the 1910s, Loïe Fuller’s work with dance and lighting caught the attention of Arnaldo and Bruno Ginanni-Corradini, also known as Arnaldo Ginna and Bruno Corra. They were first part of the Cerebrist movement but later joined Futurism. They shared their knowledge of film techniques with the Futurist group. In 1911, when preparing a new version of L’Arte dell’avvenire (The Art of the Future), Ginna and Corra first considered the possibilities of cinema. They made several abstract films, including the lost short La Danza (The Dance, 1912). This film tried to turn music into visual colors instead of showing people or objects. It showed dance through the use of shapes and colors, not through the movements of human bodies.
Literature
Futurism as a literary movement began officially with F. T. Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism (1909), which explained the goals that Futurist poetry should aim to achieve. Poetry, the main form of Futurist writing, is known for combining unexpected images and using very short sentences (not because the poems are short overall). The Futurists called their style parole in libertà (free words), where traditional rules about rhythm and structure were ignored, and individual words became the focus. This approach allowed them to create a new kind of language without traditional grammar, punctuation, or rhythmic patterns, giving writers more freedom to express ideas.
Theater also played a significant role in Futurist works. Plays in this style often had very short scenes, used humor that did not follow logical patterns, and used parody and other methods to challenge traditional artistic traditions.
Many Futurist novels were written during the early and later periods of the movement, including works by Marinetti and other writers like Primo Conti, Ardengo Soffici, and Bruno Giordano Sanzin (Zig Zag, Il Romanzo Futurista, edited by Alessandro Masi, 1995). These novels vary greatly in style and rarely use features like parole in libertà found in poetry. Arnaldo Ginna’s Le 'locomotive con le calze (Trains with Socks On) uses absurd and childish language. His brother, Bruno Corra, wrote Sam Dunn è morto (Sam Dunn Is Dead), a novel described as "synthetic," meaning it uses concise and precise language. This work is considered a standout example of Futurist fiction because of its strong use of irony. Science fiction also holds an important place in Futurist literature.
Film
Italian futurist cinema, also called Cinema futurista, was the first movement of European avant-garde cinema. Italian futurism, an artistic and social movement, influenced the Italian film industry between 1916 and 1919. It affected Russian Futurist cinema and German Expressionist cinema. Its cultural importance was great, and it influenced later avant-garde movements and some filmmakers in narrative cinema. Its influence can also be seen in the dreamlike visions of films by Alfred Hitchcock.
Most films from this period have been lost, but critics say Thaïs (1917), directed by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, was one of the most important. This film was inspired by Bragaglia’s 1911 book, Fotodinamismo futurista. Thaïs tells a dramatic and luxurious story, but it also shows influences from other artistic styles, such as secessionist designs, liberty furniture, and surreal moments. These elements create a mix of different artistic styles. Thaïs is the only surviving example of 1910s Italian futurist cinema. Only 35 minutes of the original 70-minute film remain.
When asked about her favorite film, famous movie critic Pauline Kael said that director Dimitri Kirsanoff, in his silent experimental film Ménilmontant, "used a style similar to the Futurism movement in painting."
Photography
Photography was not as well-known as painting, sculpture, or literature in the Futurist movement, but it still played an important role. Futurist photographers focused on showing the feeling of speed, movement, and life in modern cities. They avoided styles used by other photographers at the time, such as pictorial, modern, and journalistic styles. Instead, they created new ways to take photos that showed movement, events happening at the same time, and abstract shapes to reflect the energy of the modern world.
In 1911, Anton Giulio Bragaglia and his brother Arturo Bragaglia wrote a document called Fotodinamismo Futurista (Futurist Photodynamism). Their work used long camera exposures and motion blur to capture not only moving objects but also the paths they followed over time. Bragaglia studied the work of Étienne-Jules Marey, who focused on analyzing movement. Bragaglia’s approach instead showed the overall movement of a body through space, not just its exact positions. This method moved away from traditional, realistic photography and connected photography to the Futurist interest in energy and the passage of time, similar to the ideas of philosopher Henri Bergson.
In 1930, during the second phase of Futurism, F. T. Marinetti and Tato (Guglielmo Sansoni) wrote Manifesto of Futurist Photography (La fotografia futurista). This document described photography as a tool to show the “mechanical sensibility” of the modern world. The authors encouraged techniques like multiple exposures, combining photos, unusual angles, high views from above, extreme cropping, and intentional blurring to break apart and reassemble moving scenes. However, this second phase of Futurist photography was different from the earlier work of the Bragaglia brothers. Many Futurist photographers during this time supported Fascism, and their photos celebrated the government.
Futurist photographers avoided other photography styles. They rejected Pictorialism, which used soft focus and artistic styles to idealize nature or classical subjects, because they saw it as outdated and unchanging. They also avoided photojournalism, which they felt was too literal and static to show the energy of movement. While some modern photography styles, like Bauhaus, Constructivism, and work by photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and Paul Strand, shared an interest in abstract shapes and clarity, Futurist photography focused on showing motion, force, and speed as emotional and expressive elements, not just formal ideas.
Futurist photographers aimed to create feelings rather than just record what they saw. They showed the blur of fast-moving cars, the flicker of electric lights, and the broken shapes of people in motion. This creative approach influenced other art movements in Europe and helped prepare the way for later styles like Surrealism, Dada, and Constructivism. Important Futurist photographers and photo-collagists included:
Female Futurists
In F. T. Marinetti's The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism, two of his tenets briefly express his dislike for women, claiming it supports the Futurist movement's strong and intense nature:
- We plan to praise war—the only way to keep the world clean—militarism, patriotism, the violent actions of anarchists, powerful ideas worth dying for, and disrespect for women. 10. We plan to remove museums, libraries, and all types of academic institutions. We also oppose moralism, feminism, and any cowardly, practical behavior that avoids difficult choices.
Later, in 1911, Marinetti called Luisa, Marchesa Casati, a Futurist. He gave a portrait of himself painted by Carrà to her, with the dedication stating that she was a Futurist. Casati hosted events to support Futurist artists in Marinetti’s group and was believed to inspire several artists, including Bragaglia and Balla. In 1918, journalist Eugenio Giovanetti described her as the "spirit protector" of Futurist art, noting that she became one of Italy’s leading collectors.
In 1912, three years after the Manifesto of Futurism was published, Valentine de Saint-Point responded to Marinetti’s views in her Manifesto of the Futurist Woman (Response to F. T. Marinetti). Marinetti later called her "the first futurist woman." Her manifesto begins by stating that men and women are equal and both deserve criticism. She argues that instead of dividing people into men and women, society should recognize "femininity and masculinity" as traits that can exist in anyone. However, she supports the Futurist focus on "virility" and "brutality." Saint-Point uses this to argue that giving women equal rights weakens their natural strength to achieve a better life. In 1913, she wrote the Futurist Manifesto of Lust, expressing support for women’s freedom in relationships. Both manifestos, however, favored men, especially those seen as heroic, which contrasts with her ideas about shared human qualities.
In Russian Futurist and Cubo-Futurist groups, more women participated than in Italy from the start. Natalia Goncharova, Aleksandra Ekster, and Lyubov Popova were important female Futurists. Although Marinetti praised Olga Rozanova’s paintings during his 1914 lecture tour in Russia, some women painters may have disliked the tour due to Marinetti’s disrespect toward women and his support for fascism.
Despite Marinetti’s unfair views, many professional female artists adopted Futurist styles, especially after World War I ended. One notable artist was Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Marinetti’s wife. They met in 1918 and exchanged letters discussing their work in Futurism. In a letter dated August 16, 1919, Marinetti wrote to Benedetta: "Do not forget your promise to work. You must carry your genius to its ultimate splendor. Every day." Many of Benedetta’s paintings were shown in major Italian exhibitions, including the Venice Biennales (1930–1936), where she was the first woman to display art since 1895, and the 1935 Rome Quadriennale. However, her work was often less noticed compared to her husband’s. Benedetta first shared her feminist views about Futurism in a public discussion in 1925. She also painted in Aeropittura, an abstract Futurist style inspired by airplane views. Giannina Censi was the first to practice Aerodanze, a Futurist dance style inspired by aviation. In 1931, Censi performed with Marinetti on a dance tour called Simultanina.
1920s and 1930s
Many Italian Futurists supported Fascism because they wanted to modernize Italy, which was divided between the industrial north and the traditional, rural south. Like Fascists, Futurists were Italian nationalists, workers, unhappy war veterans, radicals, people who liked violence, and opposed to parliamentary democracy. In early 1918, Marinetti created the Futurist Political Party, which later joined Benito Mussolini’s Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in 1919. This made Marinetti one of the first members of the National Fascist Party. Later, Marinetti disagreed with Fascism’s support for existing institutions, calling them "reactionary." He left the 1920 Fascist party meeting in anger and withdrew from politics for three years. However, he supported Italian Fascism until his death in 1944. After Fascism won power in 1922, the Futurists gained official recognition in Italy and were able to work on important projects, especially in architecture. After World War II, many Futurist artists struggled in their careers because of their connection to a defeated government.
Marinetti wanted Futurism to be the official art of Fascist Italy but failed. Mussolini preferred to support many art styles to keep artists loyal to the regime. In 1923, Mussolini opened an art exhibition by the Novecento Italiano group and said, "I do not want to encourage a state art. Art belongs to individuals. The state must protect artists and help them create." Mussolini’s mistress, Margherita Sarfatti, promoted the Novecento group and even convinced Marinetti to join its board. At first, modern art was accepted under Fascism, but by the late 1930s, right-wing Fascists brought the idea of "degenerate art" from Germany to Italy and criticized Futurism.
Marinetti tried to please the Fascist regime by becoming less radical over time. He moved from Milan to Rome to be closer to the government. He became an academician, married, promoted religious art after the 1929 Lateran Treaty, and even said Jesus was a Futurist. Although Futurism is often linked with Fascism, it had many supporters with different views. Some socialists, communists, and anarchists left the Futurist movement in 1924. Anti-Fascist voices in Futurism were silenced after Italy annexed Abyssinia and signed the Italo-German Pact of Steel in 1939. This mix of Fascists, socialists, and anarchists in Futurism can be explained by the influence of Georges Sorel, whose ideas about political violence appealed to many groups.
Aeropainting (aeropittura) was a major part of the second generation of Futurism, starting in 1926. The excitement of flying, experienced by many aeropainters, inspired them to paint airplanes and aerial landscapes. Aeropainting included many styles, such as realistic paintings (especially propaganda art), abstract art, dynamic scenes, quiet landscapes, portraits of Mussolini (like Dottori’s "Portrait of il Duce"), religious art, decorative designs, and images of planes.
Aeropainting was introduced in a 1929 manifesto called Perspectives of Flight, signed by artists like Cappa, Depero, Dottori, Fillìa, Marinetti, Prampolini, Somenzi, and Tato. The artists said that "the changing views from flight create a new reality unlike anything seen from the ground," and that painting this new reality needed to ignore small details and focus on simplifying and transforming everything. Crispolti identified three styles in aeropainting: "cosmic projection" (seen in Prampolini’s work), "aerial fantasies" (like in Dottori’s art), and "aeronautical documentarism" (focused on machines, as in Crali’s work).
Eventually, over 100 aeropainters created art. Important figures included Fortunato Depero, Marisa Mori, Enrico Prampolini, Gerardo Dottori, Mino Delle Site, and Crali. Crali continued making aeropittura until the 1980s.
Legacy
Futurism influenced many twentieth-century art movements, such as Art Deco, Vorticism, Constructivism, Surrealism, Dada, and later Neo-Futurism and the Grosvenor School linocut artists. As a clear and structured artistic movement, Futurism is now considered to have ended, with its leader, Marinetti, passing away in 1944.
Despite this, the ideas of Futurism remain important parts of modern Western culture. These ideas, which focus on youth, speed, power, and technology, appear in modern commercial films and other cultural works. For example, filmmaker Ridley Scott used designs inspired by Sant'Elia in his movie Blade Runner. Ideas from Marinetti, such as his vision of making the human body look like metal, are still seen in Japanese culture, especially in manga and anime, and in the work of artists like Shinya Tsukamoto, who directed the Tetsuo films. Futurism also influenced the literary style of cyberpunk, which often examines technology critically. Artists who gained fame during the early years of the Internet, such as Stelarc and Mariko Mori, create works that reflect on Futurist ideas and the movement Neo-Futurism, which sees technology as a way to improve life and promote sustainability.
A new form of theatre inspired by Futurism began in 1988 with the creation of the Neo-Futurist style in Chicago. This style uses Futurism’s focus on speed and short performances to create immediate theatre. Today, active Neo-Futurist theatre groups exist in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Montreal.
Futurist ideas have also shaped Western popular music. Examples include ZTT Records, named after Marinetti’s poem Zang Tumb Tumb; the band Art of Noise, named after Russolo’s manifesto The Art of Noises; and the Adam and the Ants song Zerox, which features a photograph by Bragaglia. These influences are also found in dance music since the 1980s.
In 1986, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto released an album called Futurista, which was inspired by the Futurist movement. The album includes a speech by Marinetti in the track Variety Show.
In 2009, Italian director Marco Bellocchio included Futurist art in his film Vincere. In 2014, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in the United States held an exhibition titled Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe, which was the first major display of Italian Futurism in the country.
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London is a museum that focuses on works by modern Italian artists. It is especially known for its large collection of Futurist paintings.