Oil on canvas
In this work a soccer player dematerializes into a luminous and flickering atmosphere, save for his firmly sculpted calf, at center. Here Boccioni offered a demonstration of a principle he articulated in his 1910 text "Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting": "To paint a human figure you must not paint it; you must render the whole of its surrounding atmosphere . . . movement and light destroy the materiality of bodies." With stippled brushwork and kaleidoscopic color, the painting communicates the spirited energy of a youthful athlete.
2012.
Provenance Research Project
This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.
[1913] by 1920 - [1944], Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944), Milan and Rome, probably acquired from the artist.
[1944] - 1954, Donna Benedetta Marinetti, Rome, probably inherited from her husband Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
1954 - 1967, Sidney and Harriet Janis, New York, acquired from Donna Benedetta Marinetti.
1967, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired as gift from Sidney and Harriet Janis.
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