Armored Train in Action by Severini in the Museum of Modern Art, March 2010

Gino Severini
Armored Train in Action
1915

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 45 5/8 x 34 7/8" (115.8 x 88.5 cm)

Credit: Gift of Richard S. Zeisler

Object number: 287.1986

Copyright: © Gino Severini / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Department: Painting and Sculpture

Painted in 1915, the year Italy entered World War I, this work reflects a Futurist declaration of the same year: "War is a motor for art." Although poor health prevented Severini from enlisting in the military, he was obsessed by this first fully mechanized war. Living in Paris, he witnessed the city's bombardment, and from his studio he had an aerial view of the Denfert-Rochereau station and trains transporting soldiers, supplies, and weapons. Here, five faceless figures crouch in a militarized locomotive car, aiming their rifles in unison. Smoke from gun and cannon fire eclipse the natural landscape. Severini celebrated war, which the Futurists believed could generate a new Italian identity—one of military and cultural power.-- Gallery label from 2009

Text from: www.moma.org/collection/works/79418