States of Mind I: The Farewells by Boccioni in the Museum of Modern Art, August 2007

Umberto Boccioni. (Italian, 1882-1916). States of Mind I: The Farewells. 1911. Oil on canvas, 27 3/4 x 37 3/8" (70.5 x 96.2 cm). Gift of Nelson A. Rockefeller

Gallery label text
2006

Set in a train station, this series of three paintings explores the psychological dimension of modern life's transitory nature. In The Farewells, Boccioni captures chaotic movement and the fusion of people swept away in waves as the train's steam bellows into the sky. Oblique lines hint at departure in Those Who Go, in which Boccioni said he sought to express "loneliness, anguish, and dazed confusion." In Those Who Stay, vertical lines convey the weight of sadness carried by those left behind.


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