Giacomo Balla

Speed of the automobile (Speed no. 1), c.1913
Indian ink in watercolour on covered paper,  cm 46,5 x 60

Giacomo Balla
Abstract Speed - The Car Has Passed, 1913 
Oil on Canvas

Giacomo Balla
Warship, Widow and Wind (Veil of Vedova and Landscape), 1916 
Oil on Burlap

Giacomo Balla
Alberi Mutilati, 1918 
Oil on Canvas

Giacomo Balla
Abstract Speed and Sound, 1913-14 
Oil on Board

Abstract Art Artist

Giacomo Balla was part of the first wave of Futurist painters and was born in 1871. He was a well known teacher in his time and his pupils included Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini. Balla's early works were greatly influenced by Seurat and the pointillist movement, but by 1912 he had joined the Futurist movement. After 1909 Balla's paintings became more and more concerned with the portrayal of light, speed and movement - this fascination is demonstrated in his works such as The Hand of the Violinist, and the Speed of the Motorcycle. As Balla sought to break down elements such as light to their simplest forms he moved closer to total abstraction in his paintings. By 1914 Balla was so involved in his art work, and his belief in Futurism that he named his two daughters Propeller and Light! During the second wave of Futurism in the 1920's Balla remained to be a strong force within the younger Futurists. Balla's paintings and sculptures slowly began to shift to more geometric forms, which he would alternate with figurative abstractions. By the end of his life, Balla had moved away from Futurism all together even though he had been an important driving influence. Giacomo Balla died in 1958.

Giacomo's painting can let you sense the power of speed. As he was so appreciate the invention of car which is the fastest transporting machine he had never seen (speed of car was about 50km/h that period), he wanted to express the feeling of speed on his paintings. Mobility and overlapping features of painting was his unique style. Besides he brought out an new idea: A painting, named “Abstract Speed + Sound” by him, stayed a new idea that frame can be an extension of painting but not separate. His painting is a kind of medium specificity as he extracted colors and lines from traditional way of painting instead of depicting things in reality. His painting is full of power and he was become one of my favourite painter =)