Giacomo Balla
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash (1912)
In the collection of the Albright Knox Art Gallery
I've always loved not only creating my own art, but also art history, and both have grown in new ways and I've been learning more from the artist's perspective that I have. One of my earliest memories of being exposed to a variety of art was when my mom showed me a big book of art history, A Picture History of Painting, an old book from the late 50's. While being that old it left out several artists that would end up being huge inspirations to me, a painting included that always stuck out to me but I never quite knew why until recently, is this masterpiece of the underrated Italian Futurist movement of the 1910's, Giacomo Balla's Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash.
Often times Futurism is mentioned solely as a footnote in the majority of art history books, but I feel like if you were to ask several artists instead of the academics/critics who write most of the books, the importance of the concepts and techniques that came out of it wouldn't be understated. The futurists were all about finding new ways to capture movement and motion in painting and sculpture, creating a kinetic energy without actually being in motion in the 3D. Many artists started with the Cubist concept, and went from there with how they arranged lines and edges/curves or repeating parts of the image. Giacomo Balla took a completely different approach with this painting, it looks right out of an old cartoon and is always the first thing I think of when I think Futurism. I don't know much about comic books/cartoons from before this was painted, so correct me if it was the other way around, but I feel like Futurism and this painting in particular inspired many techniques most commonly associated with the art of cartoons. The entire background of the painting is made up of speed lines, and both the dog and person walking the dog have speedy cartoon legs, and the same is applied to the leash and the dog's tail. Every time I look at this painting, I can see everything in motion.
Being both a cartoonist and lover of art history, I've been seeing more and more the influence that both the art of cartoons and the art of painting/sculpture has had on each other. From Hergé (creator of Tintin) being inspired by Japanese woodcut artists like Hokusai as well as modern artists from the time, and then Roy Lichtenstein being inspired by Hergé. Many artists are versatile in both, such as German artist Lyonel Feininger who was both a cartoonist and painted in his own unique take on the cubist style.
Do you like Futurism, if so, what artists/artworks? Do you like this painting? Have you noticed the similarities between Futurist and Cartoonist techniques/styles?
