Sheet of Studies with Five Portraits
1909
Medium
Drypoint
Dimensions
14 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (37.5 × 50.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Lydia Winston Malbin, 1989
Accession Number
1990.38.37
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Modern and Contemporary Art department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boccioni's *Sheet of Studies with Fiveraits* (1909) offers a captivating glimpse into the artist's exploratory process. Created in drypoint—a direct intaglio technique where a sharp needle scratches the metal plate to produce rich, velvety lines 14 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. sheet captures five intimate portraits, including profiles of boys, men and women. The bequest of Lydia Winston Malbin in 1989 brought this print to the museum's collection. Boccioni, a leading Italian artist on the cusp of Futurism, produced this work...
About the Artist
Umberto Boccioni · 1882–1916
Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) was an Italian painter and sculptor who became the leading artist and principal theorist of the Futurist movement. Born in Reggio Calabria, he studied in Rome under the Divisionist painter Giacomo Balla and was deeply influenced by Post-Impressionism before encountering the ideas of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, whose 1909 Futurist Manifesto catalyzed Boccioni's artistic ...