The antigraceful 1912

Umberto Boccioni made this approximately 80cm square oil painting called ‘The antigraceful’ with strokes that wriggle and jut. I imagine him making this work and I immediately sympathize. The color is rich and deep in the browns, greens and yellows, but it’s the gestures that really hit you. The lines are like stabs! I can almost feel the resistance of the canvas, the give and take between Boccioni and his materials. See that zig-zagging stroke of white across the chest? It’s not just a formal element; it’s like a shard of light, or a sudden realization cutting through the darkness. The paint is applied so thickly in some areas that it almost feels sculptural. I think Boccioni probably felt kinship with other painters who explored the dynamism of modern life, like the Futurists. Painting is never made in a vacuum, right? We’re all talking to each other, across time, and space. It’s an embodied practice. “The antigraceful” isn’t about any one thing; it’s a site of inquiry, inviting us to question, feel, and experience the world in new ways.