Antigraceful 1913

Umberto Boccioni made this bronze head, "Antigraceful," to kick against the prettiness that used to be so important in art. There’s a real energy in how Boccioni has worked the surface. You can see and feel the artist's hand. The texture is rough, almost like he’s attacking the material, which gives the head this raw, unfinished quality. It’s all about process, not polish. Check out the way the face is constructed. It’s not smooth and idealized. Instead, it is formed of planes and angles. There's this cool tension between the solid geometric shapes and the more fluid, organic forms. Boccioni isn’t trying to make something beautiful in a conventional way, and its angularity feels like a rejection of classical ideals, like he’s breaking down traditional forms to find something new. Boccioni was part of the Futurist movement, and you can see that interest in dynamism and disruption here. You can almost see the face vibrating, breaking apart in front of you. I am reminded of Picasso when looking at this piece. It is like an aggressive cousin to Cubism.