Future 1923

Giacomo Balla made this painting called 'Future' with a cool palette of blues, greys, black and white, and you can really feel that he was thinking about movement, and energy, and what was coming next. Looking at this painting, I imagine Balla in his studio, trying to capture a feeling of speed, maybe thinking about new technologies like planes and cars, and the way they were changing the world at the beginning of the 20th century. I see him layering these curving shapes over each other, using different values of blue to make it feel like things are emerging, coming forward, and receding into the distance. There is a real dynamism to his gestures and forms! The sharp triangles of black and white add to that sense of forward motion. For me, it’s like he’s thinking about the future not as something fixed, but as a kind of force that is constantly unfolding. I love how he takes these ideas and turns them into something we can feel and experience. I think it’s a very powerful take on modern life.