XVII - Master Paintings - Jean Luc Baroni and Marty de Cambiaire

Umberto Boccioni
Reggio Calabria 1882 – Verona 1916
22
Portrait of a Young Man
Oil on canvas
36 x 46 cm (14 3 /16 x 18 1 /8 in.)
Provenance
Galleria Annunciata, Milan; Galleria dello Scudo, Verona; acquired by the former owner in 1986; sale Christie’s
Milan, 11 April 2018, lot. 31.
Literature
M. Calvesi, A. D’Ambruoso, Umberto Boccioni, Catalogo generale, Turin 2016, p. 268, no. 179 (illustrated).
Exposition
Verona, Museo di Castelvecchio, Boccioni a Venezia: dagli anni romani alla mostra d’estate a Ca’ Pesaro:
momenti della stagione futurista, 1985-1986, catalogue p. 40, no. 20 (reproduced); Milan, Accademia di Brera,
1986; Venice, church of San Stae, 1986; Rome, Galleria Arco Farnese, Divisionismo Romano, 1989, catalogue
p. 71, no. 14 (reproduced); Vicenza, Basilica Palladiana, L’arte del XX secolo nelle collezioni private vicentine,
1998-1999, catalogue p. 78, no. 5 (reproduced); Modena, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, La pittura
a Venezia: dagli anni di Ca’ Pesaro alla Nuova Oggettività: 1905-1940, 1999-2000, catalogue p. 59 (reproduced
and also on the cover).
This vibrant Portrait of a Young Man dates to the early
career of Umberto Boccioni around the years 1905-
1906, while the young artist was progressively freeing
himself from the influence of his master Giacomo
Balla with whom he had learned the Impressionist
and Divisionist techniques in Rome.
It was on 20 February 1909 that the first Manifesto
of Futurism written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
was published and the movement of which Boccioni
would become the theoretician was launched.
The works from before this revolution show
the development, including a variety of artistic
experiences, that brought Boccioni to this point. In
Rome in 1901, where he studied first at the Scuola
Libera del Nudo at the Accademia di Belle Arti,
Boccioni was also interested in design. With Gino
Severini he became a pupil of Giacomo Balla. From
April to August 1906, he joined Severini in Paris to
study the Impressionist and post-Impressionist styles
that he assimilated and used perfectly. From Paris he
undertook a journey to Russia where he remained
until November of the same year. In April 1907,
he was in Venice and attended drawing classes at
the Accademia di Belle Arti. These different types
of training formed the basis for a solid cultural
background on which the revolution of Futurism was
built. In 1908, he met Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in
Milan, as well as Carlo Carra and Luigi Russolo and
was reunited with Balla and Severini with whom he
developed this movement of vital momentum and
dynamic sensation.
Ce vibrant Portrait de jeune homme date du début de
la carrière d’Umberto Boccioni vers les années 1905-
1906, alors que le peintre se libère progressivement de
l’influence de son maître Giacomo Balla, chez lequel
il avait appris à Rome les techniques impressionnistes
et divisionnistes.
C’est le 20 février 1909 que paraît le premier Manifeste
du futurisme, écrit par Filippo Tommaso Marinetti,
qui lance un mouvement dont Boccioni se fera le
théoricien. Avant cela, les œuvres du peintre montrent
le cheminement, varié en expériences artistiques, qui
le mena à cette rupture. À Rome en 1901, où il étudie
d’abord à la Scuola Libera del Nudo à l’Accademia
di Belle Arti, Boccioni s’intéresse également au
design. Avec Gino Severini, il devient l’élève de
Giacomo Balla. D’avril à août 1906, il rejoint Severini
à Paris pour étudier les styles impressionnistes
et postimpressionnistes qu’il assimile et manie
parfaitement. Depuis Paris, il entreprend un voyage en
Russie où il demeure jusqu’en novembre de la même
année. En avril 1907, il est à Venise et suit des cours
de dessin à l’Accademia di Belle Arti. Ces différentes
formations constituent le socle d’une solide culture
sur laquelle va s’édifier la rupture du futurisme. En
1908, il rencontre Filippo Tommaso Marinetti à Milan,
ainsi que Carlo Carra, Luigi Russolo et retrouve Balla
et Severini avec lesquels il va élaborer ce mouvement
de l’élan vital et de la sensation dynamique.
Maurizio Calvesi a daté ce portrait des années 1905-
1906 1 ; sa composition est proche en effet de celle
de nombreux portraits réalisés vers le milieu de la
114