"Italian Futurism 1909-1944" At The Guggenheim Museum

While Futurism did not make the same impact as other 20th-century art movements such as Cubism, Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism, there's much in the Guggenheim's Italian Futurism show in a variety of media that makes this survey historically and aesthetically exciting. The Futurists exalted speed, industrialization, mechanization, youth, urbanism, air flight and war, which they viewed as the answers to a moribund nation. They produced manifestos proclaiming their ideology and viewed their movement as one that would influence life in its totality, hence the show's subtitle, "Reconstructing The Universe." The Futurists' misogyny and war-mongering before WWI and the Fascism of many of its proponents were indeed unfortunate. These trends probably helped lead to Futurism's end in 1944 with the death of its leader, poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, who wrote "The Futurist Manifesto" (1909). Futurist ideas may have been dubious, but the movement did produce some powerful works, such as "The City Rises" (1910) by Umberto Boccioni, shown above, which exemplifies these artists' glorification of industry and dynamism.

"Italian Futurism 1909-1944: Reconstructing The Universe" runs through September 1, 2014, at the Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 88th Street, NYC, 212-423-3575, www.guggenheim.org