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Artwork Details
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Title:Analytical Study of a Woman's Head Against Buildings
Artist:Umberto Boccioni (Italian, Reggio 1882–1916 Sorte)
Date:1911–12
Medium:Pen and brown ink on paper
Dimensions:11 7/8 × 8 1/2 in. (30.2 × 21.6 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Lydia Winston Malbin, 1989
Object Number:1990.38.24
Inscription: Signed (center left, in brown ink): Boccioni
the artist (until d. 1916); his sister, Amelia Raffaella Boccioni Callegari, Verona (1916–56; 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)
Art Institute of Chicago. "Boccioni: An Exhibition of Drawings and Prints from the Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston Collection," March 14–April 27, 1958, no. 84 (as "Head of a Woman [Boccioni's Mother?]," 1912).
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Boccioni Drawings and Etchings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," May 30–August 9, 1961, no. 188.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Boccioni Drawings and Etchings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," October 18–December 19, 1961, no. 188.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Boccioni Drawings and Etchings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," January 14–February 19, 1962, no. 188.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. "Umberto Boccioni: Tekenigen en grafiek van Umberto Boccioni uit de collectie Harry Lewis Winston," April 19–May 28, 1962, no. 58.
Louisville, Ky. Speed Art Museum. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," November 2–23, 1962, no catalogue.
Reno. University of Nevada Student Union. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," January 2–23, 1963, no catalogue.
St. Louis. Washington University. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," March 1–29, 1963, no catalogue.
Miami Beach Art Center. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," July 1–25, 1963, no catalogue.
Portland, Ore. Reed College. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," September 2–23, 1963, no catalogue.
Tempe. Arizona State University. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," February 16–March 7, 1964, no catalogue.
Bellingham. Western Washington State College. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," April 1–22, 1964, no catalogue.
San Francisco State College. "Umberto Boccioni: Drawings and Graphics by Umberto Boccioni from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," July 13–August 3, 1964, no catalogue.
London. Arts Council Gallery. "Umberto Boccioni 1882–1916: An Arts Council Exhibition of His Graphic Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston of Birmingham, Michigan," September 19–October 17, 1964, no. 45.
City Art Gallery, Manchester. "Umberto Boccioni 1882–1916: An Arts Council Exhibition of His Graphic Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston of Birmingham, Michigan," October 31–November 21, 1964, no. 45.
City Art Gallery, Leeds. "Umberto Boccioni 1882–1916: An Arts Council Exhibition of His Graphic Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston of Birmingham, Michigan," November 28–December 19, 1964, no. 45.
Art Gallery, Aberdeen. "Umberto Boccioni 1882–1916: An Arts Council Exhibition of His Graphic Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston of Birmingham, Michigan," January 2–23, 1965, no. 45.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Boccioni Drawings from the Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection," April 26–May 28, 1967, no catalogue (checklist no. 154).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Futurism and the International Avant-Garde," October 26, 1980–January 4, 1981, no. 41 (lent by The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection [Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin, New York]).
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "The Futurist Imagination: Word + Image in Italian Futurist Painting, Drawing, Collage and Free-Word Poetry," April 13–June 26, 1983, no. 27 (lent by the Winston-Malbin Collection, Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin, New York, on extended loan to The Museum of Modern Art, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni: A Retrospective," September 15, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 70B (lent by Lydia Winston Malbin, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni: The Lydia Winston Malbin Bequest," June 15, 1990–January 15, 1991, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni and Women," June 19–October 18, 1998, no catalogue.
Palazzo Reale, Milan. "Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916). Genio e Memoria," March 23–July 10, 2016, no. 148.
Hugh Edwards. "Umberto Boccioni." Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 52 (February 1, 1958), ill. p. 27, calls it "Head of a Woman (Boccioni's Mother?)" and dates it about 1912.
R. F. C. "Mostra di incisioni e disegni di Boccioni." Emporium 128 (August 1958), ill. p. 86, calls it "Testa di donna" and dates it 1912.
Reyner Banham. Umberto Boccioni 1882–1916: An Arts Council Exhibition of His Graphic Art from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston of Birmingham, Michigan. Exh. cat., Arts Council Gallery. [London], 1964, unpaginated, no. 45, ill.
"The Theorist of the Futurist Movement." Times (London) (September 19, 1964), ill. p. 12, calls it "Study of a Woman's Head Against Buildings".
Pierre Rouve. "Boccioni." Arts Review 16 (September 19–October 3, 1964), ill. p. 2.
Linda Shearer and Marianne W. Martin. Futurism: A Modern Focus. The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection. Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin. Exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. New York, 1973, p. 224, no. 214, ill., date it about 1912.
Guido Ballo. Boccioni, la vita e l'opera. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1964). Milan, 1982, p. 222, appendix no. 421, ill. n.p., calls it "Studio di testa" and dates it 1911.
Maurizio Calvesi and Ester Coen. Boccioni: L'opera completa. Milan, 1983, p. 459, no. 835, ill., call it "Studio di testa".
Bernard de Grunne inThe Futurist Imagination: Word + Image in Italian Futurist Painting, Drawing, Collage and Free-Word Poetry. Ed. Anne Coffin Hanson. Exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery. [New Haven], 1983, pp. 44–46, ill.
Anne Coffin Hanson, ed. The Futurist Imagination: Word + Image in Italian Futurist Painting, Drawing, Collage and Free-Word Poetry. Exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery. [New Haven], 1983, p. 86, no. 27.
Maria Drudi Gambillo and Teresa Fiori, ed. Archivi del futurismo. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1958 and 1962). Rome, 1986, vol. 2, p. 267, no. 262, ill. p. 221, calls it "Studio di testa".
Ester Coen. Umberto Boccioni. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1988, pp. 158–59, no. 70B, ill.
Leonardo Capano inBoccioni 1912 Materia. Exh. cat., Galleria dello Scudo, Verona. Milan, 1991, p. 194, ill., calls it "Studio di testa".
Grace Glueck. "On a Trip Back to Futurism, Women and Settings Merge." New York Times (July 3, 1998), p. E34.
Livia Velani inOn Dynamism: Works by Umberto Boccioni from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Civiche Raccolte d'Arte del Castello Sforzesco, Milano. Ed. Giovanna Bonasegale. Exh. cat., Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Rome, 1999, p. 66, ill., calls it "Studio di testa".
Laura Mattioli Rossi inBoccioni: pittore, scultore, futurista. Ed. Laura Mattioli Rossi. Exh. cat., Palazzo Reale. Milan, 2006, pp. 32, 183, no. 13, fig. 19 (color), dates it 1912.
Alberto Dambruoso in Maurizio Calvesi and Alberto Dambruoso. Umberto Boccioni: Catalogo Generale delle Opere. Turin, 2016, p. 342, no. 434, ill., calls it "Studio di testa (La madre)" and dates it 1912.
Umberto Boccioni (Italian, Reggio 1882–1916 Sorte)
1912
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