Totale 1930

Benedetta Cappa made this painting, Totale, with watercolor and ink, likely in Italy in the 1920s or 30s. It represents the ideas of Italian Futurism, a cultural movement that embraced technology, speed, and dynamism. The sharp, upward-pointing cone, rendered with a fractured, crystalline style, evokes the Futurist fascination with machinery and modernity. But who gets to participate in this bright new future? Futurism had close ties to the rise of Fascism in Italy, and we must ask if its utopian vision masked a darker, more exclusionary ideology. Was the Futurists' desire to sweep away old traditions and embrace technology a genuinely progressive gesture, or did it serve more sinister political ends? To fully understand this artwork, we need to consult manifestos, political pamphlets, and other period documents, so we can consider the complex interplay of art, culture, and politics in shaping its meaning.