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Title:Head Against the Light (The Artist's Sister)
Artist:Umberto Boccioni (Italian, Reggio 1882–1916 Sorte)
Date:1912
Medium:Pen and brown ink with traces of copy pencil on paper
Dimensions:4 15/16 in. × 4 in. (12.6 × 10.2 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Bequest of Lydia Winston Malbin, 1989
Object Number:1990.38.25
Inscription: Signed (upper right, in brown ink): Boccioni
the artist (1912–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: Drawings and Prints from the Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston Collection," March 14–April 27, 1958, no. 82 (as "Bust of Figure," 1911–12).
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. 222 (as "Head Against the Light [Boccioni's Sister]").
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Boccioni Drawings and Etchings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lewis Winston," October 18–December 19, 1961, no. 222.
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. 222.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Boccioni Drawings from the Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection," April 26–May 28, 1967, no catalogue (checklist no. 169).
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Futurism and the International Avant-Garde," October 26, 1980–January 4, 1981, no. 42 (as "Head Against the Light [Boccioni's Sister)," lent by The Lydia and Harry Lewis Winston Collection [Dr. and Mrs. Barnett Malbin, New York]).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni: A Retrospective," September 15, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 61B (lent by Lydia Winston Malbin, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Boccioni and Women," June 19–October 18, 1998, 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. 2 (as "Study for Testa+Luce [La sorella) [Head+Light (The Artist's Sister)]").
Joshua C. Taylor. The Graphic Work of Umberto Boccioni. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1961, unpaginated, no. 222, ill.
Marianne W. Martin. Futurist Art and Theory, 1909–1915. Oxford, 1968, p. 165, pl. 143, calls it "Head against the Light".
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. 219, call it "Head against the Light (Boccioni's Sister)".
Guido Ballo. Boccioni, la vita e l'opera. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1964). Milan, 1982, p. 224, appendix no. 470, ill. n.p., calls it "Studio di Testa + luce (La sorella di Boccioni)".
Maurizio Calvesi and Ester Coen. Boccioni: L'opera completa. Milan, 1983, p. 430, no. 772, ill., call it "Studio per Testa + luce".
Maria Drudi Gambillo and Teresa Fiori, ed. Archivi del futurismo. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1958 and 1962). Rome, 1986, vol. 2, p. 270, no. 316, ill. p. 230, call it "Testa+Luce".
Ester Coen. Umberto Boccioni. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1988, pp. 140–42, no. 61B, ill.
Leonardo Capano inBoccioni 1912 Materia. Exh. cat., Galleria dello Scudo, Verona. Milan, 1991, p. 206, ill.
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, pp. 57–58, no. 2, ill.
Laura Mattioli Rossi inBoccioni: pittore, scultore, futurista. Ed. Laura Mattioli Rossi. Exh. cat., Palazzo Reale. Milan, 2006, pp. 28, 183, no. 11, fig. 15 (color).
Alberto Dambruoso in Maurizio Calvesi and Alberto Dambruoso. Umberto Boccioni: Catalogo Generale delle Opere. Turin, 2016, p. 340, no. 423, ill., calls it "Voglio dare la fusione di una testa con Il suo ambiente".
Umberto Boccioni (Italian, Reggio 1882–1916 Sorte)
1909–10
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