Modern Idol 1911

Umberto Boccioni made this painting, Modern Idol, with oil paint applied in a mass of tiny brushstrokes. He’s building up an image bit by bit, like weaving threads of color together. Looking closely, the surface is almost vibrating with color. Purples, greens, and reds push against each other. It's like he’s trying to capture not just what something looks like, but how it feels to see it. The way the light hits the face, for example, is all about the feel of the moment. There is a tension between the face that is quite clearly there and the abstraction of the rest of the work. It reminds me of Gauguin’s interest in pattern and texture, particularly in his paintings of faces. Ultimately, Boccioni's Modern Idol invites us to see the world as a fluid, dynamic place, where what we see is always changing. It is a kind of optical dance.