Art Club 18

Just a quick one today - it is all Olympics all the time here in fortress chunu, and of course, being this part of the world, the swimming about to start is an absolutely massive thing.

But back to the art for a second or five.  No, I am not going to stint on the quality (or lack thereof) of my posts here, just that instead of twenty minutes, they may come in over the course of several hours...



Umberto Boccioni, Charge of the Lancers 1915 - collection Jucker, Milan

The break through the trenches, pouring the cavalry behind enemy lines, was a warmly held strategy by most of the high command on both sides during the war.  It hardly ever happened though, and this piece by Boccioni is just such a flight of fantasy.

The angles in this piece are fantastic - the rounded shapes of the horse and rider, the hardness of both the cavalry lances and the opposing infantry rifles.  I love the blackness of the horse, and especially the design of its head.

Boccioni was mobilised for the war, but, tragically enough, was trampled by his horse in a training accident in 1916, and died the next day.