The Laugh

early 1910

Meets Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

In early 1910 Boccioni met Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who had published his Manifesto of Futurism the year before.

11 February 1910

Signs the “Manifesto of Futurist Painters”

On 11 February 1910 Boccioni signed the Manifesto of Futurist Painters together with Giacomo Balla, Carlo Carrà, Luigi Russolo and Gino Severini.

1911

“The City Rises” on show in Milan

In May 1911 “The City Rises” went on show in Milan: a huge canvas, 2 by 3 metres, on which Boccioni had worked for nearly a year, attempting, as he wrote to a friend, “a great synthesis of labor, light and movement”. It attracted numerous reviews, mostly admiring.

1912

Decides to take up sculpture

After visiting the Paris studios of Georges Braque, Alexander Archipenko, Constantin Brâncuși, Raymond Duchamp-Villon and, probably, Medardo Rosso, Boccioni decided to take up sculpture.

1912

Futurist exhibition at the Sackville Gallery

In 1912 the Futurists, Boccioni among them, exhibited their work at the Sackville Gallery in London.

1912

Futurist exhibition at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune

In 1912 Boccioni exhibited some paintings together with other Italian Futurists at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune.