Morning (Mattino) 1910

Curator: Standing before us is Luigi Russolo's 1910 etching, "Morning (Mattino)," rendered on toned paper. It’s an evocative, early example of Futurist printmaking. Editor: It has such a strangely melancholy feel for something titled "Morning". The muted tones and stark lines of the bare tree make it feel almost wintry. Curator: That’s interesting because, for the Futurists, mornings often represented a break from the past, the dawning of a new, mechanized era. Editor: Mechanized, yes, I see the parallel lines that suggest railway tracks and their repetitive, insistent presence; yet there's also something inherently unstable. Curator: Unstable? Can you expand on that? Editor: Absolutely, the hazy application of etching leaves every object indefinite—wispy clouds mirror the smokestack of the cottage. What at first seem rigid, constructed shapes of the future become, under Russolo's touch, rather blurry—dreamlike and fleeting. Curator: Right, and consider the cultural weight of these industrial signs. Trains symbolized progress, connecting people and accelerating the pace of life, the shedding of old values. The Futurists embraced speed, technology, and dynamism, often depicting trains as symbols of this transformation. Editor: But it's hard not to read into it beyond Futurist ideals; Russolo uses tonal shifts with considerable grace. Even if these structures seem 'forward,' the muted earth tone anchors us. Curator: This reminds me of how the Futurists aimed to depict the sensory experience of modernity. Even what's commonly assumed is "unsettling," the "smoke," so to speak, is integral. This particular etching really captures their desire to visually translate not just the image but also the sensation. Editor: It does that rather wonderfully. I arrived here seeing melancholy, and yet, it may in fact be a threshold... to possibility. Thanks. Curator: A compelling insight indeed. My pleasure.