Guglielmo Marconi 1939

Enrico Prampolini painted this portrait of Guglielmo Marconi using oil, though the date is unknown. I love how Prampolini embraced the dynamism of Futurism, choosing diagonals over verticals and horizontals to create movement in the image, and using abstraction to capture the spirit of invention. The colors are muted, giving the piece a kind of seriousness that chimes with its subject. And yet there’s a playful quality to the composition, too. Look at the way the curves of the antenna echo the curve of Marconi’s head, or the way the hard-edged shapes soften around his face, as if dissolving into thought. The brushstrokes are quite visible, especially in the rendering of Marconi’s face, which adds to the energy of the piece. There’s a touch of Picabia in the way Prampolini uses mechanical forms to suggest the human condition. Ultimately, though, the painting resists a simple, fixed interpretation. Like all good art, it invites us to bring our own ideas and associations to the work.