Giacomo Balla

ABOUT ARTIST

Giacomo Balla (b. 1871, Turin, Italy – d. 1958, Rome, Italy) is the son of a photographer and studied music as a child. After the death of his father at age 9, he gave up music and began working in a lithograph print shop. By age 20, he decided to study painting at local academies, and several of his early works were shown at exhibitions. He moved to Rome in 1985 where he worked for several years as an illustrator, caricaturist, and portrait painter. In 1899 his work was included in the Venice Biennale and in the Esposizione internazionale di belle arti at the galleries of the Società degli Amatori e Cultori di Belle Arti in Rome. He adopted the Futurism style, influenced by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, creating a pictorial depiction of light, movement and speed. 

He was part of the "Futurist Manifesto" that started in 1910, and began to design Futurist furniture, as well as so-called Futurist "antineutral" clothing. 

Balla's studio during World War I became a meeting ground for young artists. In 1935, he was made a member of Rome's Accademia di San Luca.