Painting of the Week - Dynamism of a Dog by Giacomo Balla

Giacomo Balla, Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
(source)

This week's painting is something fun from the Futurist movement. Active in the first half of the 20th century and primarily Italian, Futurism was a movement that celebrated the technological and societal changes contemporary to the early 1900s, advocating the rejection of the past and moving to the future - and using violence to get there if necessary. Unfortunately something they also celebrated was nationalism and the movement became associated with Fascism; the writer of the Futurist manifesto, Filippo Marinetti, was one of the first members of the Fascist Party and although he later left it, he remained a supporter of Fascist ideals.

Anyway! Dynamism of a Dog is a more playful example of Futurist work and displays several things the Futurists celebrated (and not just cute little dogs). The dog has multiple feet and tails, the chain is swinging around, and the legs of the person walking it are blurred indicating that they're moving forward, not static or stuck in the past. There is also the allusion to modern technology - the blurring such as that Balla has shown here is reminiscent of photography of movement. Lastly, although there's not much to see, you can tell the scene takes place in an urban environment, celebrating the modern city.