Carlo+Carrà


 * Carlo Carrà** was an Italian painter and writer in the 20th century involved in many Modernist movements. He traveled throughout Western Europe in the pursuit of his studies and later returned to Italy, eventually teaching as the painting professor at the Accademia di Brera. Though he worked in Italian Divisionism, Naturalism and, later, Cubism, he is best known for his participation in Futurism. He published two books in his lifetime. The first, //Pittura Metafisica// (1919)//, "//celebrated the transcendent properties of pure form and commonplace objects;" the second was an autobiography, //La Mia Vita// (1945).

=Biography=

Carlo Carrà was born in 1881 in Quargnento (Alessandria), Italy. He began professional work at the age of twelve as a mural decorator. In 1906, he attended the Accademia di Brera (Brera Art Academy) in Milan. In 1899, he traveled to Paris to work as a pavilion decorator. There Carra came into contact with Parisian Anarchists, including Eliseo Reclus, who had an effect on his social and political outlooks. After that he moved on to London and was exposed not only to the refugees of the Milanese rising of 1898, but also to the writings of Karl Marx. After returning to Italy, Carrà drew illustrations for "left-wing reviews," and in 1910 he co-wrote ‍a manifesto ‍ with F.T. Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni, and Luigi Russolo. They wrote the manifesto with the intention of promoting free, expressive writing. From this manifesto @Futurism was born.

However, it was not long before Carrà began to move away from Marinetti's Futurism movement. His collages were the first artistic picture of his transition away from Marinetti. After being called to war and then spending time in a military hospital, he went back to Milan where he would later marry Ines Minoja. Although he went through a time of personal struggle, he eventually emerged with a clearer, fresher vision for his art. He was committed to "simplifying Imagism" and was particularly invested in landscapes. In 1966 Carrà was hit with an unexpected illness that took his life. =**Fascist Loyalties**=

Carrà was one of the first followers of Futurism to join with Marinetti after the 1909 publication of his piece “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism” in the Paris paper //Le Figaro// – Carrà was twenty eight at the time – and participated in Marinetti’s Anti-Venetian campaign with Umberto Boccioni and Luigi Russolo. While the artistic side of Futurism was dominated by the ideas of dynamism, intuition, energy and the fourth dimension, Marinetti’s political Futurism was anti-historical, anti-romantic (//Amore//), pro-technology and Mechanical Beauty, pro-violence, and aligned largely with Fascism. In summation, “Futurism defines itself in the language of fascism: hygiene, the cult of the irrational, and the pageantry of power” (776). However, very little of Carrà’s involvement in the actual activities and performances of Futurist protest and propagandism are discussed.

In December 1933, Carra wrote another manifesto, this time with Massimo Campigli, Achille Funi and Mario Sironi, entitled //Manifesto Della Pittura Purale// (Manifesto of mural painting). It declared that "in the Fascist State, art must have a social function: an educational function," and reflected the call for a "contemporary-inspired fascist culture" with an emphasis on classicism. C. E. Oppo declared, "Fascism...must have the courage to bear the weighty crown...of our great artistic heritage with the ease of an old gentleman wearing a monocle... In Italy there can be no neo-classicism simply because classicism has never grown old. In Italy one is either a classicist, or nothing," a statement which betrays the huge shift in focus of Fascism from the anti-history tendencies of Marinetti's Futurism.

=Futurism as Aesthetic=

As a Futurist artist, Carra is credited as one of only two Futurist painters to have “achieved [his] ambitious Futurist goals on…canvas” by 1911 with his piece “Funeral of the Anarchist Galli.” Futurist painting was reputedly at its best in its early stages – before and during the Great War, with the zenith of its acclaim between 1912-1915 – a time when Carrà also worked on collages he dubbed “Guerrapittura” (literally Italian for ‘war’ and ‘painting’). The other artist who allegedly succeeded in portraying his futurist ambitions by 1911 was Umberto Boccioni (with “Riot in the Galleria” and “The Raid”), a rivalry which ultimately led to Carrà’s break with “the literal vision of the Futurist aesthetic;” Carrà moved toward Collage and synthetic Cubism before the end of the war.

An excellent analysis of the use of force lines and other Futurist techniques in "Funeral of the Anarchist Galli" appears in Mark Antliff’s //The Fourth Dimension and Futurism: A Politicized Space//.

According to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, //Interventionist Demonstration// was painted only a few days after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event which catalyzed World War I, and was published in the magazine //Lacerba// on the day that Germany declared war with Russia. It also asserts, "this image was inspired by the vortex-like spinning of leaflets dropped from an airplane over the Piazza del Duomo of Milan." However, this description of leaflets is far from the only interpretation of //Interventionist Demonstration.// A working list of impressions includes but is not limited to: an impact from an artillery shell, a black hole and/or a star being born, an exploding paper factory, and an eye. Because of these varied responses, //Interventionist Demonstration// is a great visual example of indeterminacy. It has also been mentioned that this painting gives a very distinct feel of collage.

The Collection also notes the presence of the phrase "Parole in liberta" (words-in-freedom), a direct reference to friend and contemporary F.T. Marinetti. It has also been pointed out that the words "Zang Tumb Tuuum" appear in the upper left-hand corner of this piece, this phrase was the title of one of Marinetti's publications in 1914. The concept of words-in-freedom relies on words freed from the structure of sentences and a lack of punctuation, as demonstrated here by the lack of complete sentences. The connection between //Interventionist Demonstration// and Marinetti's work is only strengthened when it is compared to Marinetti's piece "Après la Marne, Joffre Visita le Front en Auto", which is also characterized by fragmentation, collage, motion and interruption.

Many of the words used in //Interventionist Demonstration// are mimetic - they mimic what the word indicates in some way. For example, the word "SIRENE" means "sirens" in Italian. The ruler-like structure which cuts across the piece just right of center has "SIRENE" repeated on it. The fact that the word is repeated mimics the repetitive sound that a siren makes, and that it appears in a straight line suggests the course of a police car, ambulance, or fire truck along a street. Other phrases are stretched out, mimicking shouts.

=External Links=

Demelza Spargo's review from The Burlington Magazine, a review of the evolution of Carrà 's work Carrà in the Guggenheim collection

=References=

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