Blasting the Future!: Vorticism in Britain 1910-1920

by Jonathan Black

Takes a look at the impact of Futurism on the British avant-garde. The works illustrated in this title are from a range of prominent public and private collections.

110 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 2004

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Reviews

[Jur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last weekend in London I made an interesting find: Blasting the Future, Vorticism in Britain 1910-1920. I picked it up at the Estorick Collection of modern Italian art. Vorticism is a British art movement inspired by Italian Futurism and incorporates its dynamism and love for machinery. Like it's Italian siblings, this made it a very appropriate art school to observe and represent the violence and industrial character of the First World War.

It includes war artists like Wadsworth, Roberts and Nevinson. Wadsworth had an interest in the dazzle painting on British warships, and Roberts has some harrowing paintings from the front. Nevinson is closest to the Futurists, with abstracted and dynamic images of marching soldiers, air combat and explosions. Great find!