Giacomo Balla

Galleria Poggianella, Modena
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1975

Rome, Galleria dell'Obelisco, 1968
Modena, Galleria Fonte d'Abisso, Giacomo Balla, Opere dal 1912 al 1930 - Tipologie di astrazione, 1980, no. 55, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Maria Drudi Gambillo & Teresa Fiori, Archivi del Futurismo, vol. II, Rome, 1962, no. 154, illustrated p. 101
Giovanni Lista, Balla, Modena, 1982, no. 801, illustrated in colour p. 368

Painted in 1925, Numeri simpatizzanti is a vivacious and colourful example of Balla's prominent mid-twenties abstract works, a symmetrical arrangement of interlocked shapes and plastic experimentation in line with Futurist ideology. The present work refers to Numeri innamorati of 1923, exhibited in the Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, which underlined Balla's interest in mathematics and natural symmetry. The twenties mark Balla's interest in rich, decorative schemes for interior decorations, furniture, and clothing as a way to integrate his artistic credo and the idea of abstract chromatic decorativisminto daily life.

A few years earlier, in an interview with Enrico Santamaria in 1920, the artist expands upon this concept and states that 'modern man is inclined towards colour. The more or less Parisian fashions demonstrate it. Let us look at the hats, the umbrellas, our wives clothes and the handkerchief and the tie we are wearing. And what has futurist painting been from its beginning up until today if not a research of abstract chromatic decorativism? And it is because our art is essentially decorative that today we are orienting ourselves toward art applied to industry. This form of art comes very close to the masses and can be understood and felt by everyone.' (Giacomo Balla quoted in Giacomo Balla, Modena, 1982, p. 89)