'Abstract Speed - The Car has Passed', Giacomo Balla

Artwork details

Artist

Giacomo Balla (1871‑1958)

Title

Abstract Speed - The Car has Passed

Velocità astratta - l'auto è passata

Date 1913

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 502 x 654 mm frame: 552 x 704 x 52 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Presented by the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1970

Reference

T01222

Not on display

Display caption

Ballà was a leading figure in the Italian Futurist group. He believed that the power and speed of machines such as cars were the salient characteristics of the modern age and aimed to express this idea in his work. This painting was originally the right-hand part part of a triptych. The left-hand part of the triptych was called 'Line of Force + Landscape' and the central one 'Lines of Force + Noise'. The theme of the triptych was the passage of a car along a white road, with green and blue forms, evoking earth and sky, in the background. The pinkish areas in this painting suggest the exhaust fumes left by the passing car.

September 2004