How does this artwork elucidate its History?
In 1906, anarchist Angelo Galli was killed on the eve of an Italian general strike. The strike had been called after a section of the Milanese Royal Guard fired upon a group of protestors, killing one and injuring eight. Galli was a major organiser of the strike, and was killed on May 10, 1906, after being confronted and stabbed by security guards of the Macchi and Pessoni factory. Galli was alongside anarchists Enrico Recalcati and Carlo Gelosa, and the trio were on their way to a picket. His funeral was planned for May 13th, 1906.The Italian state feared that his funeral would become a de facto political demonstration. In the event, hundreds of people attended, monitored by police on horseback. Police refused to allow the procession of anarchists into the cemetery itself. When the anarchists resisted, the police responded with force and a violent scuffle ensued. Carrà was associated with the Milanese anarchist movement at the time and was present at the funeral. In his autobiography, Carrà recounted the events, stating:
I found myself unwillingly in the centre of it, before me I saw the coffin, covered in red carnations, sway dangerously on the shoulders of the pallbearers; I saw horses go mad, sticks and lances clash, it seemed to me that the corpse could have fallen to the ground at any moment and the horses would have trampled it. Deeply struck, as soon as I got home I did a drawing of what I had seen.
Carrà in his autobiography would incorrectly attribute Galli's death to the Italian general strike of 1904. The newspaper Corriere della Sera was the first to describe this discrepancy, with some believing that Carrà was attempting to tie himself to a more famous event.In 1910, Carrà drew a pastel study, Study for Funeral of the Anarchist Galli, in preparation for his work on the final piece. It has been proposed that early renditions of The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli likely resembled the earlier study. In 1911, Carrà visited Paris, coming into contact with Picasso’s Cubism, and changed the canvas design to the piece seen today. Carrà would incorporate Picasso’s technique of fracturing, or using corresponding and overlapping lines to display conflict, as a means to convey harsh movements. Carrà's finished piece was first exhibited in 1912 when Felix Fénéon organized The Italian Futurist Painters exhibition at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. Carrà was exhibited alongside other Futurist painters, including Umberto Boccioni, Luigi Russolo, Gino Severini, and Giacomo Balla.In 1912, the piece was purchased by Borchardt, a German art collector, and displayed in the Galerie Der Sturm, in Berlin. The piece was then sold again in 1914 to Franz Kluxen. By 1920, the piece had been obtained by Herwarth Walden and was displayed again in the Galerie Der Sturm. Between 1920-1948, the piece was purchased from Der Sturm by Paul Citroen. In 1947, the piece was first displayed in New York City's Museum of Modern Art, where it was then bought by the museum the following year. The piece was obtained through funding provided by the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest and has remained with the Museum of Modern Art to this day. The Funeral of the Anarchist Galli is widely considered to be Carrà's most influential piece.
de facto coffin Berlin Felix Fénéon Gino Severini Paul Citroen German Der Sturm Corriere della Sera anarchist canvas Cubism Galerie Bernheim-Jeune Italian state Italian Galerie Der Sturm pastel cemetery Museum of Modern Art Italian general strike of 1904 New York City Giacomo Balla art collector Umberto Boccioni Luigi Russolo lance autobiography Paris Lillie P. Bliss Bequest Bernheim-Jeune Lillie P. Bliss Herwarth Walden