Umberto Boccioni

Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916), Italian painter and sculptor, who was a leader of the futurist movement. He wrote the Technical Manifesto of Futuristic Painting (1910), in which he presented the group's revolutionary demand that artists free themselves from the past and embrace modern technological civilization, with its movement, speed, and dynamism. In his paintings, such as Dynamism of a Cyclist (circa 1913, G. Mattioli Collection, Milan), he conveyed a sense of movement by showing several stages of one kinetic sequence. He used complementary colors to create a glittering effect. In his sculpture Boccioni attempted to illustrate the interaction of a moving object with the space that surrounded it.