Giacomo Balla

Casa Balla, Rome (no. 325)
Alessandro Campilli, Rome (by 1961)
Sale: Sotheby's, London, 2nd December 1982, lot 448
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Maurizo Calvesi, Il Futurismo: penetrazione e magia nella pittura di Balla, Milan, 1967-68, illustrated p. 146 (titled Vele al Vento)
Giovanni Lista, Balla, Lausanne, 1984, illustrated fig. 1182

The canvas is not lined. There is a horizontal stretcher mark with some associated very minor craquelure in places and some small spots of retouching at the centre, visible under UV light. There are also some very minor stretcher marks along the four edges and two tiny protrusions at the lower right corner due to the stretcher keys pushing forwards. Otherwise this work is in overall very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue, though the yellows are brighter in the original.
"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."

Painted circa 1919, Paesaggio + Volo di Rondini explores one of the artist’s most important themes and is a vivacious and colourful prefiguration of Balla’s prominent twenties abstract works, a symmetrical arrangement of interlocked shapes and plastic experimentation in line with Futurist ideology. 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 decorativism into daily life. The highly evocative title for this work relates to the idea of movement:  through the choice of the word ‘paesaggio’, a landscape of shapes is focused upon and is linked to the imagery of flying swallows evoked by the ‘volo di rondini’.  Balla first employed the flight of swallows as a visual mechanism during his stay in Dusseldorf in 1912 when he was decorating Lowenstein House, comparing the birds to the ones he used to see in Rome, and absorbing such visual imagery into his following studies and major compositions, such as Linee andamentali + successioni dinamicheof 1913 in the MoMA collection, in New York.

It was the close examination of natural flight and animals which led Balla to subsequently explore the concept and representation of machinery and cars in movement. Such transition finally led him into complete abstraction and purity of form. The fluttering sound of swallows is conveyed in a vortex and sequential array of circular shapes which radiate through the composition: the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky are intertwining and provide the real life inspiration for Balla’s visual experiment. Giovanni Lista cites Fra Carnevale’s La Nascita della Vergine, of 1467, as the first noteworthy visual reference of birds in flight in the history of painting, relating it to Balla’s own explorations of the subject. Paesaggio + Volo di Rondini appeals to the senses through sight and sound, a primary Futurist aim, evoking sound through sight and synthesising form and rhythm.