Lot 32
  • 32

GIACOMO BALLA | Folla + Paesaggio (Crowd + Landscape)

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 EUR
bidding is closed

Description

  • Giacomo Balla
  • Folla + Paesaggio (Crowd + Landscape)
  • signed Balla, inscribed Futurista and dated 1915 (lower center)
  • collage of painted papers and tissue paper laid down on canvas, mounted on masonite 
  • 152,5 x 66,7 cm., 60 x 26 1/4 in.
  • Executed in 1915.

Provenance

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Rome (a gift of the artist in 1915)
Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Rome (by descent from the above in 1944; until 1958)
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Lewis Winston, Birmingham (acquired in 1962)
Lydia Winston Malbin, New York (by descent from the above; sale: Sotheby's, New York, May 16, 1990, lot 32)
A. Alfred Taubman Collection (purchased at the above sale)

Exhibited

New York, Museum of Modern Art; Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts & Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Futurismus, 1961-62, no. 17, illustrated in the catalogue
Detroit Institute of Arts & New York, Museum of Modern Art, Selections from the Collections of the Friends of Modern Art, 1969, no. 23
New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Futurism, 1973-74, no. 20, illustrated in the catalogue p. 57
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art: European Painting and Sculpture, 1978, no. 56, illustrated in the catalogue
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Futurismus and the International Avant Garde, 1980-81, no. 13, illustrated in the catalogue
New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, F.T. Marinetti and Futurism, 1983, no. 7, illustrated in the catalogue

Literature

Maria Drudi Gambillo & Teresa Fiori (eds.), Archivi del futurismo, vol. II, Rome, 1962, no. 230, illustrated p. 117
Herta Wescher, Collage, New York, 1968, illustrated pl. 52
David Schaff, "Three Origins of Modernism: Expressionism, Futurism and the Russian Avant Garde" in Art International, New York, August-September 1981, p. 34
Gene Baro, "A Lifelong Education of the Senses" in Living with Art, New York, 1988, illustrated p. 140
Anne Coffin Hanson (ed.), The Futurist Imagination: Word + Image in Italian Futurist Painting, Drawing, Collage and Free-Word Poetry, New Haven, 1983, illustrated p. 88
Giacomo Balla, Coloratissimo e luminosissimo (exhibition catalogue), Galleria d'Arte Cinquantasei Bologna, 2013, no. 29, illustrated p. 167 (titled Dimostrazione interventista)

Condition

This collage of painted papers on canvas wrapped around masonite is in stable condition overall. The composition of collage of varied painted papers was executed on a thin, possibly cotton, canvas, which has been wrapped around an acidic masonite panel and glued to the verso edge. The tacking edge at the verso upper left edge is beginning to delaminate. Multiple patterned creases throughout indicate the paper was folded once vertically in half and horizontally three times. Some of these folds appear raised, some present a slight loss of pigment, and some have resulted in subtle fracture of the fibers. Very minor tears and paper losses are scattered around the edges from handling. Visually, the canvas and collaged papers are midly oxidized throughout from contact with acidic material and a natural process of aging due to light exposure. Mild incipient foxing spots exist throughout as well. The presence of a darker red pigment at the bottom center and left center edges identify the loss of intensity of the red pigment in these areas, as well as throughout the image, due to UV light exposure. Otherwise, other areas of media appear to be well preserved.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

In 1915, Balla made this collage for Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the author of the Manifesto of Futurism (1909) and leader of the movement that celebrated speed, youth and the machine. On his request, it was destined to cover the mirror of Marinetti's dressing table, a figure who also advocated for the modernization of Italy and its cultural renaissance. Its composition is comparable to a collage of the same year kept in the Calmarini Collection, the vertical format of the work given to Marinetti is justified by its destination. Two years later, the poet would be wounded at the Front.
Elica Balla, Balla's daughter, tells of this troubled period in the history of Italy, plunged in the general and traumatic context of the First World War: "demonstrations in favour of Italy's intervention in the war followed each other and became increasingly violent. Together with the Futurists, Balla took an active part. Even as they protested, they observed and studied the events in order to reproduce in their paintings, these dramatic and intense moments which required the awakening of public consciousness." Crowd + Landscape is emblematic of the strength of the Futurists' opposition to Italy's stasis which, over the first ten months of the First World War, remained neutral (although it was a part of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary). From the North to the South, supported by other militant movements, the Futurists sought to generate an impetus in favour of Italy's participation in the war alongside the French and the English.

Crowd + Landscape belongs to a series of works that stand out for the diversity of paper cut-outs and collage and takes a real demonstration as its point of departure, in which Balla took part. From this politically committed standpoint, the emblem of the Savoie family, Italy's royal family, is brandished vehemently at the heart of the crowd. The message caught between the collages was doubtless understood by its initial recipient, Marinetti, Crowd + Landscape transcends circumstantial patriotism, rising it up to the ranks of abstraction, and endowing it with the intelligence of moving form and the polyphonic audacity of colour, a universal beauty for a universal audience.