Nuns and Landscape 1925

Editor: Here we have Giacomo Balla's "Nuns and Landscape" painted in 1925, an oil on canvas held in a private collection. The angular shapes depicting nature and the women create a surprisingly serene but odd feeling to me. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why… What catches your eye? Curator: What a fascinating piece, isn't it? Balla was, after all, a core member of the Futurist movement. But here, it’s like he's taken the dynamism they loved and filtered it through stained glass. The sharp geometries certainly speak to speed and modernity, but they also feel…almost meditative. Those nuns, arranged almost symmetrically, stand as a kind of stabilizing force in all the angularity. Almost frozen and geometric too, like a Futurist rendering of faith itself. It's quite unexpected. It reminds me a bit of Itten's paintings when he left the Bauhaus school. Editor: Yes! The stained glass comparison makes a lot of sense, and the symmetry grounds it in a way I hadn't initially considered. Curator: Precisely! I see this strange blending, a pursuit of serenity found via chaos; that is, the representation of movement. Editor: It almost seems like Balla is searching for something deeper than just speed and technology. Maybe a way to reconcile the spiritual with the modern world. Curator: Perhaps the Futurists aren't just about engines and flight. Maybe they offer something quietly subversive. And the choice of subject - nuns, figures associated with timelessness and tradition. Perhaps a hidden wink? It tickles the imagination. Editor: Absolutely! I initially saw two opposing forces and I now see a harmonious balance. Thanks for shedding new light, so to speak, on Balla! Curator: My pleasure! Art’s about looking, truly looking, and seeing what whispers from the canvas to the mind.