EMPTY AND FULL ABSTRACTS OF A HEAD
Sculpted in 1913, final exhibition in 1924, Galleria Bottega di Poesia, Milan, destroyed in 1927 in Acquabella, Milan.
Misidentification corrected
In addition to reconstructing Boccioni’s striding figures, we also chose to recreate another lost plaster sculpture: Empty and Full Abstracts of a Head (1912). This work was first exhibited in Paris in 1913, where the most well-known photograph of it was taken (1).
The Head is one of two sculptures depicted in Boccioni’s painting The Two Friends (1914) (2, detail). It is shown at a three-quarter angle, and this inspired Maurizio Calvesi — co-author of the official Boccioni Catalogue (2016) — to attempt a reconstruction in clay.
Three additional photographs from the 1913 Paris exhibition show the Head at a distance. Calvesi (2016) interprets these images as showing the sculpture from the front. However, closer analysis suggests a right-side view. Key features are discernible, including the right ear, the left eyebrow flaring into a cone, the deeply recessed cheek line, and the protruding nose and chin (3).
Most significantly, we have identified the Head in yet another photograph (4), one that, to our knowledge, has not previously been associated with this sculpture. In this image, Mattioli (2006) mistakenly identifies the work on the right-hand shelf as Antigrazioso. However, based on a direct comparison of defining features (5), it is clear that the sculpture is in fact Empty and Full Abstracts of a Head. Using visual data from all five photographs, we believe our reconstruction represents the most accurate version of the lost sculpture to date (6).
Interestingly, the Head as seen on Boccioni’s studio shelf appears to have been painted or varnished, as was also done with Antigrazioso and Development of a Bottle in Space Through Colour. The photograph was taken in May 1913 — about a month before the Paris exhibition — where the Head is seen in white. It is possible that Boccioni initially painted or varnished the piece, but later decided to return it to its original white surface prior to the exhibition.
[Published April 2020]
References:
Calvesi, Maurizio, & Dambruoso, Alberto, (eds.): Umberto Boccioni: Catalogo generale delle opere (Turin: Allemandi, 2016), p. 445
Mattioli Rossi, Laura (ed.), Boccioni Pittore scultore futurista (Milan: Skira, 2006), p. 146
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