Umberto Boccioni
Umberto Boccioni (US: /boʊˈtʃoʊni, bɒˈ-, bɔːˈ-/,[1][2][3] Italian: [umˈbɛrto botˈtʃoːni]; 19 October 1882 – 17 August 1916) was an influential Italian painter and sculptor. He helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of the Futurism movement as one of its principal figures. Despite his short life, his approach to the dynamism of form and the deconstruction of solid mass guided artists long after his death.[4] His works are held by many public art museums, and in 1988 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City organized a major retrospective of 100 pieces.[5]
Umberto Boccioni
19 October 1882
17 August 1916 (aged 33)
The tomb in Verona
A memorial where Boccioni was fatally injured in Sorte of Chievo
Italian involvement in the First World War began late in May 1915 with Italy's declaration of war on Austro-Hungary. The "Lombard Battalion Volunteers Cyclists and Motorists", which Boccioni was part of, set off in early June from Milan to Gallarate, then on to Peschiera del Garda, in the rear of the Trentino front. In July 1915, the volunteers were intended for a sector of the front around Ala and the Gardesana. On 24 October 1915, Boccioni participated in the battle of Dosso Casina. On 1 December 1915, the battalion was dissolved as part of a general reorganization; the volunteers were laid off temporarily, then each was called up along with the class. In May 1916 Boccioni was drafted into the Italian Army, and was assigned to an artillery regiment at Sorte of Chievo, near Verona. On 16 August 1916, he was thrown from his horse during a cavalry training exercise and was trampled.[15][16] He died the following day, age thirty-three, at Verona Military Hospital, and he was buried in the Monumental Cemetery of that city.
Umberto Boccioni self-portrait (1905)
Head + House + Light, 1912, sculpture destroyed
L'antigrazioso, 1912, private collection
Dynamism of a Man's Head, 1913, private collection
