Study for "Modern Idol"
1911
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
5 3/4 × 5 1/4 in. (14.6 × 13.3 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Lydia Winston Malbin, 1989
Accession Number
1990.38.20
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate graphite drawing by Umberto Boccioni captures a preparatory study for his 1911 painting *Modern Idol*. Created at the height of the Futurist movement, which Boccioni helped pioneer in Italy, the work reflects the group’s fascination with dynamism, modernity, and the human figure transformed by contemporary life. The small scale—just over five inches square—invites close looking, revealing the artist’s quick, energetic lines that suggest both a face and the restless energy of the modern world. As a drawing rather than a finished painting, the piece offers a rare glimpse into Bocc...
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 ...