Agitate Crowd Surrounding a High Equestrian Monument 1908

Umberto Boccioni made this agitated scene with ink, and the quick, scratchy marks feel like a performance. It’s a direct and messy process, laid bare. The ink is so dense in places, it’s like a solid mass, especially in the monument, where it becomes almost sculptural. It feels both permanent, as befits a monument, and unstable, as though the ink is in the process of running away. Then there are these dry, wispy marks creating this feeling of a volatile sky, suggesting both movement and a kind of brooding energy. The combination speaks to Boccioni's futurist project of capturing the dynamism of modern life. Look at how the marks around the crowd become like screams, or reaching hands, a sea of figures surging up towards the... well, what, exactly? Is it glory or something more sinister? Perhaps it doesn’t matter, as with Boccioni, it’s all about the feeling of raw, restless energy. Think of Kirchner and the expressionist woodcuts, but with an Italian twist. Boccioni leaves us with a feeling of unease, a sense of modernity’s double-edged sword.