Art Study 1: The City Rises

The City Rises, 1910
Umberto Boccioni
Mark Harden

Boccioni was inspired to create many paintings while residing in Milan. One of his most acclaimed pieces is The City Rises, which was painted in 1910. This painting depicts the urban area of Milan. There are smoking chimneys, scaffolding, a streetcar, and a train taking up the background. In the foreground, there are horses tugging violently at their harnesses. As this is happening, street workers are trying to direct them. It’s a struggle for them, as the horses are extremely strong.

Boccioni glorifies speed, violence, and power with the action. This is assumed by the energy the painting shows. The horses resemble the ideas of modernity and mechanization. The whole painting seems to form a spiraling vortex. The horses’ necks swirl inwards, creating the middle of the vortex. In the background, horses’ bodies seem to curl, completing the spiral. Boccioni used the neo-impressionist technique of Seurat for the coloration and brushstrokes. His modification of the technique makes the symbols of the horse and the manpower to break out of their skin with a blur of moving light.