Giacomo Balla,  Paravento con linea di velocità (Screen with speedline), 1916-1917

The collection that Helene Kröller-Müller brought together was lacking in works by futurist artists, which she later deeply regretted. She had overlooked the importance of futurism as one of the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century. In order to fill this gap in the collection, works by Giacomo Balla and Umberto Boccioni were acquired in the 1970s.

Particularly in recent years, the futurist collection has been expanded greatly. In the presentation, the latest acquisitions of Giacomo Balla, Oleksandr Bohomazov and Jules Schmalzigaug are surrounded by works by Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, Vilmos Huszár and and other works by Bohomazov.

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Prelude to the major futurism exhibition in 2023

The presentation is a prelude to the exhibition Futurism & Europe. The aesthetics of a new world. The Italian futurists in the early 20th century did not limit themselves to visual art, but strived for a new, contemporary design for all aspects of life. They designed and produced a variety of functional objects, from furniture and carpets to ceramics and books and were involved in advertising, theatre, film and architecture. Their concept of a new, all-encompassing aesthetic found its way to large parts of Europe and had a great influence on other avant-garde movements, such as De Stijl and Bauhaus. The relationships between futurism and these movements are examined in detail for the first time in the major exhibition Futurism & Europe.

In addition to paintings and sculpture, the exhibition Futurism & Europe will include furniture, interior and stage designs, books, graphic work and a wide range of objects with a variety of uses from the period 1912 to 1939, by Italian futurists, such as Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Fortunato Depero, Antonio Sant 'Elia and Enrico Prampolini and other artists, including Sonia Delaunay, Le Corbusier, Fernand Léger, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Oskar Schlemmer, El-Lissitsky, Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Rietveld and Tatlin.

Images: Giacomo Balla,  Paravento con linea di velocità (Screen with speedline), 1916-1917 (left: front, right: back)