In March 1912 Boccioni wrote, "These days I am obsessed by sculpture! I believe I have glimpsed a complete renovation of that mummified art." A month later he published the "Technical Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture," and by June 1913 he had produced eleven sculptures, including Development of a Bottle in Space. Rather than delineating the contours of his subject, a bottle, Boccioni integrated the object’s internal and external spatial planes, which appear to unfold and spiral into surrounding space.
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Benedetta Cappa Marinetti, Rome (1950–56; sold in 1956 to Winston); Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston, Birmingham, Mich. (1956–his d. 1966); Lydia Winston Malbin, Detroit and New York (1966–d. 1989; her bequest to MMA)
Palacio del Retiro, Madrid. "Exposición de Arte Italiano Contemporáneo," May–June 1955, no. 1 (as "Desarrollo de una botella en el espacio," 1913, lent by Sra. Marinetti, Rome).
Salas Municipales de arte, San Sebastián. "Exposición de Arte Italiano Contemporáneo," July 1955, no. 1.
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire et Musée Naval de Toulon. "L'art italien contemporain," September 1955, no. 1 (as "Développement d'une bouteille dans l'espace," 1913, lent by Mme Marinetti).
Marseille. Musée Cantini. "L'art italien contemporain," October 1955, no. 1.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," March–April 1956, no. 4 (as "Development of a Bottle in Space" [1913], lent by B. Marinetti, Rome).
Adelaide. National Gallery of South Australia. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," May–June 1956, no. 4.
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," July 1956, no. 4.
Hobart. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," August–September 1956, no. 4.
Sydney. National Gallery of New South Wales. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," October 1956, no. 4.
Brisbane. Queensland National Art Gallery. "Italian Art of the 20th Century," November–December 1956, no. 4.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Collecting Modern Art: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," September 27–November 3, 1957, no. 21.
Richmond. Virginia Museum of Art. "Collecting Modern Art: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," December 13, 1957–January 5, 1958, no. 21.
San Francisco Museum of Art. "Collecting Modern Art: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," January 23–March 13, 1958, no. 21.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Collecting Modern Art: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," April 11–May 12, 1958, no. 21.
Minneapolis. Walker Art Center. "Collecting Modern Art: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," June 15–August 3, 1958, no. 21.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Cubist Epoch," December 15, 1970–February 21, 1971, no. 9 (dated 1912, lent by Mrs. Barnett Malbin, Birmingham, Mich. [The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection]).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Cubist Epoch," April 9–June 7, 1971, no. 9.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Selections from the Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection (Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin)," July 18, 1972–April 20, 1973, unnum. checklist (as "The Development of a Bottle in Space," 1913).
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Futurism: A Modern Focus. The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection. Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin," November 16, 1973–February 3, 1974, no. 29 (as "Development of a Bottle in Space [Still Life] [Sviluppo di una bottiglia nello spazio] [Natura Morta]" 1912–13).
New York. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. "Masters of Modern Sculpture," November 19, 1974–February 27, 1975, no catalogue (checklist no. 28, as "Development of a Bottle in Space [Still Life]," 1912–13, lent by The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection [Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin, New York]).
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. "Aspects of Twentieth-Century Art," June 1–July 30, 1978, no. 51 (as "Development of a Bottle in Space [Still Life]").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni: A Retrospective," September 15, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 87.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni: The Lydia Winston Malbin Bequest," June 15, 1990–January 15, 1991, no catalogue.
Rome. Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. "On Dynamism: Works by Umberto Boccioni from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Civiche Raccolte d'Arte del Castello Sforzesco, Milano," December 14, 1999–March 20, 2000, no. 9.
Joshua C. Taylor. "Harry Lewis Winston, Birmingham, Michigan: Futurist and Other Twentieth-Century Art." Great Private Collections. Ed. Douglas Cooper. New York, 1963, pp. 297–98, ill. p. 295.
Maurizio Calvesi and Ester Coen. Boccioni: L'opera completa. Milan, 1983, pp. 436–37, no. 782.
Ester Coen. Umberto Boccioni. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1988, pp. 214–15, no. 87, ill. (color).
Sylvia Hochfield. "Spotlight. Lydia Winston Malbin: A Futurist Eye." Art News 87 (April 1988), p. 92.
Lisa M. Messinger in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1989–1990." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 48 (Fall 1990), p. 69.
Maria Elena Versari. "Recasting the Past: On the Posthumous Fortune of Futurist Sculpture." Sculpture Journal 23, no. 3 (2014), pp. 353, 357, 359–61, 367 n. 59, fig. 3.
Alberto Dambruoso in Maurizio Calvesi and Alberto Dambruoso. Umberto Boccioni: Catalogo Generale delle Opere. Turin, 2016, pp. 405, 442–44, no. 690, ill. pp. 405 (color), 443.
Rosalind McKever. "Benedetta Marinetti and the Postwar Market for Umberto Boccioni Sculptures." Getty Research Journal no. 9 (2017), pp. 114–18, fig. 4 (installation photo, Winston living room, 1969).
Lewis Pyenson. "Sculpture in the Belle Epoque: Mathematics, Art and Apparitions in School and Gallery." Being Modern: The Cultural Impact of Science in the Early Twentieth Century. Ed. Robert Bud et al. London, 2018, pp. 197–201, fig. 9.2 (color).
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Italian Futurist Umberto Boccioni's death, Rosalind McKever, Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellow, takes a closer look at how two of the artist's works made him famous over the last century.
Umberto Boccioni (Italian, Reggio 1882–1916 Sorte)
1913, cast 1950
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