Paintings

Paris, London, Berlin, Brussels – these were the first cities in which the futurists presented their art to a larger audience outside of Italy. Marinetti and Boccioni accompanied the first stage of the touring exhibition (1911-12) and took care of the corresponding advertising in their usual manner with posters and flyers. The futurists finally achieved the success they deserved and impressed the visitors with their dynamic pictures. The works on display included Severini’s famous dancers, Russolo’s “Ricordi di una notte” (1911) and the second version of Boccioni’s “Gli addii”, which was produced as part of the “Stati d’animo” trilogy (1911-12). The dynamic pictures by Russolo and Carrà show angry crowds of people who have gathered on the streets for an uprising. There was a separate catalog for each exhibition, in which the foundation manifesto, the foreword “for the public by the exhibitors”, the “Manifesto dei Pittori futuristi” (1910) and eight black-and-white photographs of the exhibited paintings were printed. Only in the catalog for the “Mm. Bernheim-Jeune & C.ie” gallery is there a mention of the fifth signatory of the “Manifesto dei pittori futuristi”, Giacomo Balla, and one of his works. Touring the cities around Europe was of immense value for the futurists: more significant than the sale of numerous works was the exchange of artistic ideas among the members of the avant-garde, which started at that time.