Italian Futurism: The First Modern Avant-Garde Movement

The early 20th century is often referred to as an age of isms. There was a great proliferation of political, literary and artistic movements throughout Europe, all aimed at changing some aspect of society. Today we refer to these movements collectively as modernism.

But for some people, modernization just wasn't happening fast enough. A group of Italian writers and artists who called themselves Futurists were frustrated by the sense that Italy was stuck in the past. They felt that Italian culture was stagnating, still resting on accomplishments that dated back to the Renaissance.

So they decided to shake things up.

Equating museums and libraries with cemeteries, calling for the destruction and rebuilding of cities, and demanding the removal of pasta from the Italian cuisine, Futurism was positioned as a total rejection of the past with the goal of replacing nearly all of contemporary culture with a completely original design for the future. Italian Futurism was very much a product of its time and place. The social, political and intellectual atmosphere of Europe was generating excitement, upheaval, and all kinds of creative ideas. The past gave the Futurists something to rebel against. The present gave them motivation. All the different schools of thought that were developing around them were interacting and inspiring each other to go even farther and do even more. Futurism was often crazy and over the top, but it was the first organized avant-garde movement of the 20th century.

Although Futurism as an organized movement was over before the end of World War II, its influences on modern culture continue to be seen in product design, publishing, architecture and contemporary art.