Futurism

Early 20th Century

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that began in Italy in the early 20th century.

It represented a move away from the past and emphasised speed, technology, and all that was industrial.

Futurism influenced other areas of creativity including design, fashion and food. Artists often painted modern life such as construction and cityscapes.

Futurists artists adopted the methods of Cubism in order to develop their work. Cubism provided a way of expressing work through energy and dynamism.

What do you think about this way of making art?

Do you recognise the objects in the images?

Art Activity

Futurist Drawing Exercise

The Futurists were obsessed with how to depict Movement.

For this exercise you will need:

• Some A4 paper

• Colouring Pencils/Crayons

• Scissors

Step 1:

Draw a person, animal, or object. I drew some cars and some cats. Keep the drawings quite small.

Step 2:

Pick your favourite drawings and cut them out. (You could also choose to cut something out of a magazine or newspaper).

Step 3:

On a new sheet of paper, place the cut-out on the left hand side of the page. Draw round the outside of the cut-out in a coloured pencil, or crayon, or anything you like!

Step 4:

When you’re done, move the cut-out a tiny bit to the right, and draw round it again, this time in a different colour.

Step 5:

Keep on repeating this until you reach all the way across the page.

When you’ve finished, take a photo of your work and send it to us. As always, we’d love to see your work!